Women with high vitamin D blood levels are twice as likely to survive breast cancer as those with low levels, according to a new study published in the journal Anticancer Research.

Researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine analyzed five studies that included nearly 4,500 breast cancer patients, separating them into high vitamin D blood level and low vitamin D blood level groups. Those in the “high” group, with average blood levels of 30 ng/ml, had around a 50 percent lower fatality rate than those in the “low” group, with average blood levels of 17 ng/ml. The study notes that the average vitamin D blood level for breast cancer patients in the United States is 17 ng/ml.

“Vitamin D metabolites increase communication between cells by switching on a protein that blocks aggressive cell division,” head researcher Cedric D. Garland, Dr.PH said in a press release from the University. “As long as vitamin D receptors are present tumor growth is prevented and kept from expanding its blood supply. Vitamin D receptors are not lost until a tumor is very advanced. This is the reason for better survival in patients whose vitamin D blood levels are high.”

Previous research from Garland in 2011 showed that low vitamin D levels were associated with increased risk of premenopausal breast cancer, prompting examination of vitamin D’s relation to survival rates.

Click here to read the press release about the study.

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