Table 2.

Studies investigating vitamin D and liver cancer occurrence

Incidence study	Number of patients	Key findings
Chinese Linxian Nutrition Intervention Trials (55)	255	modest evidence for associations with incident liver cancer, which became significant only among participants with higher baseline serum calcium
Nested case-control study within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort (57)	138	higher vitamin D levels were associated with a 49% reduction of HCC; the finding did not vary by time from enrolment to diagnosis, or changed after adjustment for biomarkers of preexisting liver damage or chronic HBV or HCV infection
Japan Public Health Center-based Prospective Study cohort (56)	110	vitamin D concentration was inversely associated with liver cancer, with corresponding hazard ratios for trend of 0.45 (0.26 to 0.79) (P = 0.006)
Sir Run Shaw Hospital, China (59)	100	vitamin D level greater than 20 ng/mL increased HCC risk (odds ratio 7.56, 95% confidence interval 4.58–12.50)

*Abbreviations: HCC – hepatocellular carcinoma; HBV – hepatitis B virus; HCV – hepatitis C virus.