Washington: A new research by U.S. scientists has revealed that high sun exposure, that raises vitamin D levels in the body, may lessen the possibility of advanced breast cancer.

The study results were released in the most recent issue of American Journal of ‘Epidemiology.’

The scientists from the Northern California Cancer Center, the University of Southern California, and Wake Forest University discovered that women with more exposure to sunlight had half their possibility of having advanced breast cancer. These results were detected only for women with naturally light skin color.

The researchers said that the reality that this distinction took place only in light skin color group indicates that the effect was because of variations in vitamin Dproduction. And the difference was discovered only in women with highly developed disease, hinting that vitamin D may be vital in slowing down the expansion of breast cancer cells.

Esther John, lead researcher on the study from the Northern California Cancer Center, “We believe that sunlight helps to reduce women's risk of breast cancer because the body manufactures the active form of vitamin D from exposure to sunlight. It is possible that these effects were observed only among light-skinned women because sun exposure produces less vitamin D among women with naturally darker pigmentation.”

Skin color is an imperative feature that decides how much vitamin D is formed inside the body after sun exposure. Dark-skinned persons create up to 10 times less vitamin D as compared to light-skinned persons for the equal amount of time spent in the sun.

These new findings are compatible with preceding study by John and co-workers that had indicated that women who reported regular sun exposure had a lower possibility of developing breast cancer as compared to those with rare sun exposure.

The scientists emphasized that sunlight is not the only source of vitamin D that can be received from multivitamins, fatty fish and fortified foods including milk, certain cereals and fruit juices.

Women should not try to lessen their breast cancer risk by sunbathing because of the risks of sun-induced skin cancer, the researchers stated.

A co-researcher from Wake Forest University, Gary Schwartz said, “If future studies continue to show reductions in breast cancer risk associated with sun exposure, increasing vitamin D intake from diet and supplements may be the safest solution to achieve adequate levels of vitamin D.”