Objetive

To assess the effect of vitamin D supplementation on musculoskeletal complications related to aromatase inhibitor (AI) treatment in patients with breast cancer.

Material and methods

Prospective observational study of women undergoing AI treatment, recruited in the B-ABLE cohort. Patients with baseline serum 25 (OH) D (25-hydroxyvitamin D) levels <30 ng/ml received a 16,000 IU dose of oral calcifediol every 2 weeks. Arthralgia and bone loss related to AIs were assessed at 3 months and 1 year of followup, respectively. The association analyzes of vitamin D status at 3 months with musculoskeletal events were carried out using adjusted multivariate linear regression models. In addition, the association of incident pain, defined as patients without initial joint pain, but with a visual analog scale (VAS) >0 at 3 months, was evaluated using logistic regression.

Results

Vitamin D supplementation at the start of AI treatment decreased the risk of both incident arthralgia and its worsening. The effective threshold of 25 (OH) D in serum to reduce joint pain was established at 40 ng/ml. However, this threshold was not significantly related to bone changes at one year of follow-up. However, vitamin D levels were inversely correlated with lumbar spine bone loss (LS) (β=0.177% [95% CI: 0.014 to 0.340]).

Conclusions

Vitamin D supplementation aimed at achieving serum 25(OH)D levels of at least 40 ng/ml is protective for arthralgia. Vitamin D levels at three months could predict the risk of bone loss in LS at one year of AI treatment. Therefore, high doses of vitamin D are recommended in these patients, who are more prone to musculoskeletal conditions.

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