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Prostate Cancer survival is dependent on
season of diagnosis
Newswise — A report in
the September 2007 issue of The Prostate by
Dr. Lagunova and associates from Norway and
Oregon suggests that men diagnosed with
prostate cancer (CaP) in the summer and
autumn seasons have better survival.
The work was based upon
the knowledge that racial and environmental
factors affect CaP rates and prognosis.
Vitamin D deficiency is linked to higher CaP
mortality. The authors hypothesized that
calcidiol levels are higher during summer
and autumn and thus may impact CaP incidence
and outcome.
They cite Giovannucci
who reported that a high calcidiol level
reduced the overall death rate by 29% and
the incidence rates by 17%. The researchers
divided Norway into three regions based upon
annual solar exposures and documented
vitamin D consumption. Clinic and
demographic data was available from
Norwegian national databases.
Seasons were defined as
winter (December-February), spring
(March-May), summer (June-August), and fall
(September-November).
Relative risks of death
during the 36 months after diagnosis of CaP
were estimated for winter normalized to 1.
It is noted that while CaP risk increases
with age the photosynthesis of vitamin D3
decreases with age. As such, men diagnosed
with CaP were divided into 2 age groups; age
<65 years and age >65 years.
The dietary intake of
vitamin D is 7% and 13% higher in the middle
and northern regions of Norway, compared to
the south. This is primarily due to the
intake of fat fish. The relative risk of
death assessed 36 months after diagnosis
followed seasonal variation similar to that
of serum calcidiol. The best prognosis was
for summer and autumn compared with winter
and spring. Summer and autumn were the
seasons with the highest serum calcidiol
concentrations in both studied age groups.
This seasonal survival benefit persisted
after stratification by region and age. The
authors also evaluated that there was no
difference between the 3 regions with regard
to the frequency of holiday vacations to
southern regions.
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