Serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D and nutritional status: Implications for vitamin D assessment and dietary supplementation in oncology

Abstract

9638 Background: There is emerging evidence in the literature to suggest a protective role of vitamin D in cancer survival. Vitamin D status is not routinely assessed, despite the high prevalence of malnutrition in this population. We hypothesized that malnutrition could contribute to vitamin D deficiency, and therefore expected mean serum 25-hydroxy-vitamin D [25(OH)D] levels to be significantly lower in malnourished oncology patients. Methods: A consecutive case series of 737 cancer patients seen at Cancer Treatment Centers of America between Jan-June 08. Nutritional status was assessed using Subjective Global Assessment (SGA) and serum albumin. SGA categorizes patients into 3 distinct classes of nutritional status; well nourished (SGA-A), moderately malnourished (SGA-B) and severely malnourished (SGA-C). Serum albumin was divided into 2 groups: >=3.6 g/dl and <=3.5 g/dl. Mean serum 25(OH)D was compared across 3 categories of SGA using ANOVA and across 2 categories of serum albumin using 2 sample t test. Results: Of 737 patients, 302 were males and 435 females. The mean age at presentation was 55.7 years (SD = 10.2). The most common cancer types were lung (133, 18%), breast (131, 17.8%), colorectal (97, 13.2%), pancreas (86, 11.7%), prostate (44, 6%) and ovarian (38, 5.2%). The mean serum albumin and serum 25(OH)D was 3.5g/dl (SD = 0.6) and 21.9 ng/ml (SD = 13.5) respectively. There was no significant difference in the mean vitamin D levels across serum albumin (p = 0.76). The mean vitamin D levels across the 3 classes of SGA also showed no statistically significant difference ( Table ). Conclusions: Contrary to what we expected, vitamin D deficiency was found to be prevalent in cancer regardless of nutritional status. No significant differences were found across the 3 classes of SGA. Based on these results, screening for vitamin D deficiency and aggressive vitamin D repletion should be considered for all people with cancer. [Table: see text] No significant financial relationships to disclose.