This campaign will spread awareness of natural lifestyle choices proven to reduce the risk of breast cancer. Most notably, the BCNPF is encouraging women to have their vitamin D levels tested and work to reach natural levels (40-60 ng/ml).

Research has established that maintaining natural vitamin D levels cuts breast cancer risk in half, and that two out of three women are vitamin D deficient today. Natural breast cancer prevention also means proper diet and exercise — prevention strategies that are also widely underappreciated despite being naturally intuitive.

The common theme is that a natural lifestyle puts our bodies in position to operate as nature intended. There are no silver bullet solutions — no one is saying that these prevention strategies are cure-all, no-miss sure things. The point is that they put you in the lowest risk categories and give your body the best chance to perform as nature intended.

“To prevent breast cancer, people need to understand that Vitamin D deficiency is sunlight deficiency,” says Dr. Marc Sorenson, EdD, a health education expert who wrote the best-selling “MegaHealth” and founded the National Institute of Fitness in Utah. “Because vitamin D is made most naturally and abundantly when skin is exposed to UVB in sunlight — and because humans today spend more time indoors and less time in the sun than at any point in history — vitamin D levels are declining and more than two out of three women are deficient.”

Here’s what you can do to support Natural Breast Cancer Prevention Month:

• Educate your friends, family and community about the power of vitamin D. Encourage them to get tested and work to reach natural levels.
• Purchase and wear natural prevention bracelets and T-shirts from www.PreventBC.org to show your support and raise awareness.
• Host an event to educate your community about natural prevention strategies.
• Follow the BCNPF on Twitter (http://twitter.com/preventbc), ‘Like’ on Facebook (www.facebook.com/preventbc) and share updates. Also, change your profile pictures to the image provided on the BCNPF Facebook page.
• Sponsor BCNPF billboards and radio PSAs (available at www.PreventBC.org) in your community.

Visit www.PreventBC.org for more information on getting involved and educating your community.

Risk factors

Of the many risk factors associated with breast cancer, the most important include:

• Lifetime estrogen exposure — This includes estrogenproduced in the body and taken orally.
• High intake of meat and dairy — Eating a diet high in animal products early in life causes the body to produce more estrogen during the course of a lifetime.
• Alcohol consumption — Studies have shown a link between alcohol and breast cancer.
• Reproductive factors — Generally, women who have fewer or no children have a higher tumor risk.
• Night shift work — More electrical light exposure at night reduces melatoninproduction. This hormone may lower the risk of breast cancer.

Sunlight exposure and breast cancer risk

Breast cancer is diagnosed less often in summer, when there is more sunlight. It is also diagnosed less often in winter, when there is less sunlight, but the body produces more melatonin.

Sunlight appears to have both direct and indirect effects on breast cancer. The ultraviolet portion of sunlight stimulates the body to produce vitamin D, which protects against breast cancer. Women who spend a moderate amount of time in the sun, especially during midday, may benefit.

Melatonin has been found to be associated with reduced risk of breast cancer. Melatonin is made by the pineal gland, which is connected to the eyes and is sensitive to bright blue light. At night, when there is no bright blue light, melatonin is produced. Melatonin is ahormone that induces sleep and may also reduce the risk of breast cancer. However, during the longer days of summer, the body produces lessmelatonin. Thus, melatonin seems to help reduce the risk of breast cancer in winter.

The number of breast cancer cases and rate of diagnoses vary with the amount of sunlight and the seasons. According to breast and other cancer studies, there are:

• Lower rates in the sunny Southwest United States and higher rates in the darker Northeast
• Higher rates in countries that are further from the equator and receive less sunlight

For breast cancer, there are:

• Fewer diagnoses in the summer and winter
• More diagnoses in the spring and fall

Vitamin D and breast cancer

Breast cancer was one of the first cancers identified as having protection from vitamin D. Now there is ample evidence that vitamin D lowers breast cancer risk.

Vitamin D levels

Vitamin D blood levels greater than 40 ng/mL (100 nmol/L) reduce the risk of breast cancer by approximately 30%.

Based on observational studies of vitamin D levels at the time of breast cancer diagnosis or up to three years later, risk of breast cancer decreases rapidly as vitamin D levels increase from very low levels [less than 10 ng/ml (25 nmol/] out to 20-30 ng/ml, then decreases at a slower rate until levels about 50 ng/ml (150 nmol/l).

The rate of breast cancer appears to decrease by approximately 30% when vitamin D levels in the blood are greater than 40 ng/mL (100 nmol/L) compared to lower levels of 20 ng/mL (50 nmol/L).

How vitamin D works

Vitamin D has been shown to block the growth of breast cancer tumors.  Vitamin D’s active form, calcitriol, provides numerous benefits against cancer. This form of vitamin D encourages cells to either adapt to their organ or commit apoptosis. Calcitriol also limits blood supply to the tumor and reduces the spread of cancer.

Prevention

Most, but not all, studies indicate high levels of vitamin D are associated with a lower risk of breast cancer. The studies that compared incidence rates of breast cancer with vitamin D blood levels or oral intake of vitamin D determined within three years of diagnosis nearly always found lower risk with higher level or intake. Those with longer times between measurement and diagnosis did not. The reason they did not is probably that since breast cancer can grow rapidly, even a drop of vitamin D for a short period can permit breast cancer to grow to where it can be detected.

Vitamin D and calcium

Studies have shown that the combination of vitamin D and calcium provides moderate breast cancer protection for premenopausal women. Calcium intake from diet or supplements of more than 1000 mg/day might be helpful.

Treatment

A study in Toronto found that women with more than 30 ng/ml (75 nmol/l) at time of breast cancer diagnosis had half the 12-year all-cause mortality rate of those with less than 10 ng/ml (25 nmol/l). Since vitamin D protects against many types of disease, this finding likely relates to deaths from breast cancer and other causes.

A study in Norway found that women diagnosed in summer had a better two-year survival rate than those diagnosed in winter. Vitamin D levels are higher in summer than winter, which may explain the findings.

There have not been any reported studies of treating women with breast cancer with vitamin D. However, some cancer treatment centers are now giving at least 5000 IU (125 mcg)/day vitamin D to patients with many types of cancer.

Need to know more? Read on with our detailed evidence summary for Breast Cancer.

Among teenagers, high sunlight exposure correlated to reduced risk of breast cancer of 29% compared to those who had the lowest exposure; among those in their 20s and 30s, high sunlight exposure correlated to a reduced risk of 36%; among those in their 40s and 50s, a 26% reduced risk; and among those in their 60s and 70s, a 50% reduced risk.

Other researchers have made similar observations. One group demonstrated that girls who had the greatest exposure to sunlight during the ages of 10-19 had a 35% decreased risk of breast cancer as adults when compared to those who had the least exposure.[2]

And what about prostate cancer? It has been established that men who are in the lowest forth of sunlight exposure have three times the risk of developing prostate cancer compared to those in the highest forth.[3] And young boys who are exposed to lots of sunshine have only about one-fifth the risk of contracting prostate cancer—as adults—when compared to those who have had little sun exposure.[4]

So, are the dermatologists doing us a favor by frightening us away from the sun? You may make your own conclusions. Just remember to avoid burning if you choose to enjoy the health benefits of your solar friend.