An Updated Meta Analysis on Serum Vitamin D Levels and the Risk of Breast Cancer Vitamin D Levels and breast cancer risk
Abstract
Background: Numerous observational studies suggest an inverse relationship between high vitamin D levels and breast cancer risk. This study was conducted to determine the association between vitamin D levels and breast cancer risk.
Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted in PubMed, Scopus and Google Scholar up to February 16, 2024. Relevant articles were extracted and title and abstract screening followed by full-text screening was carried out. The quality assessment is followed by data extraction and analysis for selected articles.
Results: Nineteen case-control studies, comprising 12,541 cases and 29,272 controls, were included in the analysis. The primary analysis showed that higher circulating vitamin D levels were significantly associated with a lower risk of breast cancer (Odds Ratio [OR] = 0.60, 95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 0.46–0.75, p < 0.001). Between-study heterogeneity remained high (I² = 94.9%). A leave-one-out sensitivity analysis indicated that the overall protective association was robust to the exclusion of any single study.
Conclusion: This meta-analysis, using a robust statistical approach and harmonized effect directions across studies, supports a significant inverse association between circulating vitamin D levels and breast cancer risk (higher vitamin D, lower risk). However, the substantial heterogeneity and observational design of the included studies suggest that residual confounding and population differences may contribute to the findings, and further well-designed prospective studies are warranted.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Ghazal Mehranpour, Maryam Beigrezaee, Atefeh Shahryari Atashgah, Amirreza Taherkhani, Seyede Zahra Ashrafi, Hana Piroti, Ehsan Mehrtabar, Elham Abdi, Sepehr Salehi Omran, Sina Seyedipour, Niloofar Deravi, Foojan Dadashzadeh, Haleh Alizadeh
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