Department of Clinical Nutrition Therapy, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland; Department of Oncology, Helsinki University Central Hospital and University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
Head Neck. 2012 Jan 27. doi: 10.1002/hed.21954.
Low serum levels of vitamin D, measured as serum 25-hydroxy-vitamin D (S-25-OHD), have been observed in several cancers.
Sixty-five adult patients with head and neck cancer, 50 men, median age 61 years (range, 33-77 years), were enrolled in this prospective cohort study. Concentrations of S-25-OHD and plasma calcium (Ca) and phosphate (Pi) were measured before cancer treatment.
The mean S-25-OHD was 42.0 (SD 22) nmol/L. Hypovitaminosis D (37.5-50 nmol/L) was found in 20% of the patients and vitamin D deficiency (<37.5 nmol/L) in 45% of the patients. No seasonal variation was seen. Subnormal plasma Ca and Pi levels were found in 11% and 9% of the patients, respectively.
Subnormal vitamin D levels were found in a significant proportion of the patients. Because vitamin D deficiency may pose these patients to increased risk of therapy-related morbidity, special attention should be paid to correction of this nutritional deficiency. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck, 2012.
Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
PMID: 22287291 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] Source: National Library of Medicine.
