Sunlight exposure, vitamin D, and the prevention of breast cancer

Breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed and the second most common cause of cancer mortality in women. Vitamin D is one of the critical factors for female reproductive health which may have protective activities against many cancer types, including breast cancer. Methods: This study was a comprehensive literature review performed through searches in databases such as Medline, PubMed, Science Direct, Scopus, and Google Scholar using the terms Breast Cancer, Vitamin D, Sunlight exposure, and Cancer prevention . Findings: According to the study s results vitamin D plays an important role in the prevention of breast cancer. Vitamin D plays a role in cell differentiation and may thus protect against breast cancer and its deficiency could be correlated by obesity, low levels of dietary intake, lack of chronic (not intermittent) sun exposure.Conclusions: These findings are discussed that vitamin D intake and sunlight exposure are protective factors for breast cancer. Vitamin D supplementation is a low cost, effective, and safe intervention strategy for breast cancer prevention. Hence health care providers can play a crucial role in prevention of breast cancer and promotion of society health by education of women in field of lifestyle modification with emphasis on the nutrition.

کلیدواژه ها:

Breast Cancer ، Vitamin D ، Sunlight exposure ، and Cancer prevention