LONDON, Aug. 8 (UPI) -- Researchers at St. George's Hospital in London say they've found a lack of Vitamin D -- and how a body processes it -- may be a key to breast cancer.
The BBC reported Sunday while studies have shown a lack of vitamin D may contribute to breast cancer, the St. George's Hospital scientists find certain people with versions of a receptor gene involved in the Vitamin D breakdown have a nearly twofold greater risk of breast cancer.
Dr. Michelle Guy examined the vitamin D receptor gene, known as the VDR gene, of 398 women with breast cancer and 427 women without breast cancer.
The researchers found women with breast cancer were much more likely to have certain versions of the gene and women with these versions may also have a more aggressive form of the disease if the cancer spreads.
"We hope that by showing that natural variations in the vitamin D receptor gene can increase susceptibility to breast cancer, we are starting to unravel how breast cancer might develop in women who have no family history of the disease," Guy said.
