Brief reportRole of Ultraviolet B Irradiance and Vitamin D in Prevention of Ovarian Cancer
Introduction
There are approximately 20,200 new cases and 15,300 deaths from cancer of the ovary each year in the United States,1 but little is known about its etiology. Mortality rates from ovarian cancer are lowest in areas of the United States with high solar irradiance2, 3 and solar ultraviolet B (UVB),4 similar to the pattern of lower rates in these areas of colon5 and breast cancer in Canada,6 the United States,7 and the former Soviet Union.8
Greater exposure to solar UVB in areas with high solar irradiance results in greater cutaneous photosynthesis of vitamin D in populations in these areas, resulting in higher levels of anticarcinogenic vitamin D metabolites.5
Of six studies of sunlight or UVB and ovarian cancer,2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11 four2, 3, 4, 9 reported higher mortality rates associated with lower regional sunlight, although two reported no association in Norway10 and Japan.11 A case–control study reported that low oral vitamin D intake was associated with twice the risk of ovarian cancer.12 The present study characterizes differences in ovarian cancer incidence rates in 175 countries according to latitude, solar UVB irradiance, stratospheric ozone, and fertility rates.
Section snippets
Data Sources
Age-adjusted incidence rates of ovarian cancer were obtained for 175 countries using the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) GLOBOCAN database.13 GLOBOCAN uses national cancer registries and vital events registers to estimate annual age-adjusted incidence rates per 100,000 population in 175 countries. The latest year for which complete data were available was 2002.
A file was created that contained information for each country on solar UVB irradiance at the top of the atmosphere
Results
Ovarian cancer incidence was in general highest at the highest latitudes in both hemispheres (R2=0.45, p<0.01) (Figure 1). After including UVB irradiance, stratospheric ozone, and fertility rates at ages 15 to 19 in a regression model, UVB irradiance (p<0.01) and fertility rates at ages 15 to 19 (p=0.002) were inversely associated with incidence rates, while stratospheric ozone (p=0.0008) was positively associated with incidence rates (R2=0.49, p<0.0001) (Table 1).
Discussion and Conclusion
Only modest progress has been made to date in understanding the etiology of ovarian cancer. The main associations that have been reported are a positive association with nulliparity,17 and higher number of ovarian cycles,18 and a negative association with oral contraceptive use.19 One observational study of the effect of vitamin D on ovarian cancer risk was found in the literature search.12 It reported an odds ratio of 0.43 (p<0.01) in women who consumed more than 360 IU per day of vitamin D
References (28)
- et al.
Geographic variation in breast cancer mortality in the United States: a hypothesis involving exposure to solar radiation
Prev Med
(1990) - et al.
p27(Kip1) stabilization and G arrest by 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D in ovarian cancer cells mediated through down-regulation of cyclin E/cyclin-dependent kinase 2 and Skp1-Cullin-F-box protein/Skp2 ubiquitin ligase
J Biol Chem
(2004) - et al.
Induction of ovarian cancer cell apoptosis by 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 through the down-regulation of telomerase
J Biol Chem
(2004) - et al.
Vitamin D status in the elderly: seasonal substrate deficiency causes 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol deficiency
Am J Clin Nutr
(1987) Cancer facts and figures, 2006
(2006)- et al.
Sunlight, vitamin D, and ovarian cancer mortality rates in U.S. women
Int J Epidemiol
(1994) - et al.
Sunlight and mortality from breast, ovarian, colon, prostate, and non-melanoma skin cancer: a composite death certificate based case-control study
Occup Environ Med
(2002) An estimate of premature cancer mortality in the U.S. due to inadequate doses of solar ultraviolet-B radiation
Cancer
(2002)- et al.
Do sunlight and vitamin D reduce the likelihood of colon cancer?
Int J Epidemiol
(1980) - et al.
Acid haze air pollution and breast and colon cancer in 20 Canadian cities
Can J Public Health
(1989)
Sunlight and breast cancer incidence in the USSR
Int J Epidemiol
Ecologic studies of solar UV-B radiation and cancer mortality rates
Recent Results Cancer Res
Vitamin D3 from sunlight may improve the prognosis of breast-, colon- and prostate cancer (Norway)
Cancer Causes Control
Ecological studies of solar radiation and cancer mortality in Japan
Health Phys
Cited by (108)
Molecular mechanisms of the chemopreventive role of dietary phytochemicals
2023, Essentials of Pharmatoxicology in Drug Research: Toxicity and Toxicodynamics: Volume 1Herbal biomolecules: anticancer agents
2022, Herbal Biomolecules in Healthcare ApplicationsEffects of sunlight exposure and vitamin D supplementation on vitamin D levels in postmenopausal women in rural Thailand: A randomized controlled trial
2018, Complementary Therapies in MedicineCalcium and vitamin D in human health: Hype or real?
2018, Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular BiologyThe use of satellite data to measure ultraviolet-B penetrance and its potential association with age of multiple sclerosis onset
2018, Multiple Sclerosis and Related DisordersPlant-derived anticancer agents: A green anticancer approach
2017, Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine