Vitamin D and melanoma - folks with higher levesl do better - again!!!

Vitamin D and vitamin D levels of melanoma patients have long been discussed.  Here is a link to a couple of prior posts:  Vitamin D - low levels associated with a worse prognosis in melanoma...again...

Now there's this:

High serum vitamin D level correlates with better prognostic indicators in primary melanoma: A pilot study. Lim, Shayan, and Varigos. Australas J Dermatol. 2017 Mar 23.

Sunlight is a major risk factor for cutaneous melanoma. However, its interaction with melanoma is complex. In particular, vitamin D is a UVB-derived hormone that has been shown to have anti-cancer effects. In this retrospective pilot study we sought to determine an association between the clinicopathological features of melanoma and the patients' corresponding serum vitamin D level.

In total, 109 primary melanomas diagnosed between 2001 and 2013 were retrospectively identified from our institutional database with a corresponding 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 level estimated within 6 months of diagnosis. Tumour, clinical (age, sex, tumour location) and pathological (thickness, mitosis, ulceration, Clark level, subtype, metastatic status) parameters were correlated with vitamin D. 

Vitamin D level was inversely associated with Breslow thickness as a dichotomous, categorical and continuous variable. The association remained significant when controlled for patient's age and sex. Vitamin D was higher in non-ulcerated tumours compared with ulcerated tumours and in tumours with mitotic rate less than 1/mm² compared with greater than/= to 1/mm². A significant association was found between vitamin D level and tumour histological subtype. On subgroup analysis, significant associations were found between superficial spreading melanoma (SSM) and nodular melanoma, and SSM and acral lentiginous melanoma.  

A high vitamin D status may benefit prognosis in patients diagnosed with primary melanoma. A prospective cohort analysis with a large sample and controlled for other vitamin D confounders would validate these findings.

And again....  Take that Vitamin D, folks!!! - c