Vitamins & Breast CA – A Positive Association

SUMMARY

We found that vitamin use shortly after breast cancer diagnosis was associated with

reduced mortality and recurrence risk, even after adjusted for multiple lifestyle factors, socio-demographics, and known clinical prognostic factors. Women who used antioxidants (vitamin E, vitamin C, multivitamins) had 18% reduced mortality risk (hazard ratio (HR) = 0.82, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.65-1.02) and 22% reduced recurrence risk (HR = 0.78, 95% CI: 0.63-0.95). The inverse association was found regardless of whether vitamin use was concurrent or non-concurrent with chemotherapy, but was only present among patients who did not receive radiotherapy. In summary, the results of this epidemiological study do not support the current recommendation that breast cancer patients should avoid use of vitamin supplements. Instead, our study suggests that vitamin supplement use in the first six months after breast cancer diagnosis may be associated

with reduced risk of mortality and recurrence.

“Vitamin Supplement Use During Breast Cancer Treatment and Survival: A Prospective Cohort Study,”  Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev, 2010 Dec 21; [Epub ahead of print]. 48430 (2/2011)