To identify the association between dietary vitamin D intake and serum levels and risk or prognostic factors for melanoma-systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the association of serum vitamin D levels and dietary intake with melanoma risk and prognostic factors.

METHODS

Two independent investigators systematically searched PubMed, Embase and ISI Web of Knowledge (Thomson Scientific Technical Support, New York) databases for eligible studies published between January 1992 and September 2020 using the following combinations of search terms: (vitamin D, or 25-hydroxyvitamin D) AND (melanoma, malignant melanoma, cutaneous melanoma, or cutaneous malignant melanoma). Articles not written in English but with English titles and abstracts were also checked. We obtained the full text of all potentially eligible articles, and reference lists of all studies retrieved at the first stage were also checked to identify other eligible papers. Review articles not reporting original data were excluded, but their reference lists were inspected.

RESULTS

Six studies including 212 723 cases reported the association between dietary intake of 25(OH) D serum levels and melanoma risk. The total relative risk for the comparison between the highest and lowest quantiles of the distribution of vitamin D intake was 1.10 (95% CI 0.96 to 1.26) with =56%. Another six studies including 12 297 cases evaluated the association between serum vitamin D levels and melanoma risk. The total relative risk for the comparison of serum vitamin D levels between the highest and lowest quantiles was 1.12 (95% CI 0.53 to 2.35) with =91%. Four studies with 2105 cases investigated the association between serum 25(OH)D (nmol/L) and Breslow thickness, three of which found an inverse association between serum 25(OH)D (nmol/L) and melanoma thickness.

CONCLUSIONS

Vitamin D intake and serum 25(OH)D levels were not closely related with melanoma risk, but an inverse association between serum 25(OH)D levels with melanoma thickness was discovered. As the positive correlation between melanoma thickness and melanoma mortality has been recognised, hence it is concluded that a moderate dietary vitamin D supplement to avoid the serum 25(OH)D deficient might be beneficial to the long-term survival of patients with melanoma.