Journal of Food and Nutrition Research, 2016, Vol. 4, No. 12, 828-833 Available online at http://pubs.sciepub.com/jfnr/4/12/10 ©Science and Education Publishing DOI:10.12691/jfnr-4-12-10

Serum Vitamin D in Women with Pre and Post Menopausal Newly Diagnosed Breast Cancer in Pakistan Amna Younus1,*, Mariam Faiz2, Abida Yasmeen1 1

Department of Chemistry, Lahore College for Women University Department of Pathology, Institute Of Nuclear Medicine and Oncology Lahore *Corresponding author: [email protected]

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Abstract A large population of Pakistan is suffering from vitamin D deficiency. Decreased levels of vitamin D are associated with many critical diseases. In Pakistan, breast cancer incidence is on the rise especially among young women. Vitamin D anti-carcinogenic effects are known to protect from breast cancer. This study determined serum vitamin D level in newly diagnosed breast cancer and healthy premenopausal and postmenopausal women and to evaluate its association with age groups, menopausal status, body mass index, grade, stage, size of tumor and serum calcium level. The study included 300 newly diagnosed breast cancer women visiting INMOL and 300 age-matched healthy women from different areas of Punjab province. Blood samples were collected and serum vitamin D and calcium levels were estimated. The mean±SD vitamin D levels in patients and control group were 11.4±6.1and 23.8±5.8ng/ml respectively (p0.05) of age with vitamin D level was found in both groups. Marital status, gravida, parity, physical activity, residential status, education, occupation and menopausal status of cases and control women is given in Table 1. The mean vitamin D level of patients and controls living in urban areas was 11.1±5.7and 25.0±5.1ng/ml as compared to those living in rural areas 12.0±6.8 and 21.1±6.3ng/ml respectively. Breast cancer patients and control women who were housewives had mean vitamin D level 11.4±6.1 and 22.5±6.0ng/ml and working women had 12.0±6.2 and 26.1±5.0ng/ml respectively. Participants with breast cancer and control group with low physical

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activity had mean vitamin D level 11.2±6.2 and 24.0±6.0ng/ml respectively. The mean±SD BMI of patient and control group is shown in Table 1. According to BMI classification breast cancer women were 2% underweight, 51% normal, 34% overweight and 13% obese. The mean vitamin D level in patients and control groups with BMI ≥30kg/m2 (Obese) was found to be 9.2±3.4ng/ml and 23.2±6.4 ng/ml respectively. Serum vitamin D levels among the participants of the study was found to be lower in patients as compared to control group (Table 2). According to menopausal status the results (Table 3) clearly indicated that serum vitamin D levels were deficient in pre and postmenopausal breast cancer patients and insufficient in control group (p