Vitamin D and Physical Activity on Bone Health

The Effect of High-Dose Vitamin D and Physical Activity on Bone Health in Breast Cancer Patients Receiving Hormonal Therapy

This research will examine the effectiveness of vitamin D or placebo (the placebo is a tablet that looks like Vitamin D study drug, but has no Vitamin D study drug in it), with and without physical activity (walking and progressive resistance exercise), in treating bone loss in women who have undergone treatment for breast cancer. The investigators would also like to find out if the physical activity program improves cardiovascular fitness, energy expenditure, muscular strength, muscle mass, and balance. One hundred five (105) subjects are expected to take part in this study. The investigators don't know if bone loss in breast cancer survivors should be treated differently than bone loss in other women.

Study Overview

• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Conditions: Bone Mineral Density; Physical Fitness; Bone Metabolism Biomarkers
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Vitamin D3; Behavioral: Physical Activity

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 191
• Phase: Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • New York
    • Rochester, New York, United States, 14642
      • University of Rochester

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 99 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Must be female and have a primary diagnosis of Stage I, II, or III hormone-receptor positive breast cancer.
• Women must be postmenopausal at time of enrollment.
• Must provide informed consent.
• Must be willing to discontinue use of calcium and/or vitamin D supplements.
• Participants must have an ionized serum calcium level within normal limits (1.19-1.29mmol/L) and a total corrected serum calcium of < 10.6 mg/dl.
• Participants must be slightly vitamin D deficient (serum vitamin D level <32ng/ml)
• Must have a functional capacity rating of ≤ 2 on the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status when assessed at baseline.132
• Must have the approval of their treating physician (or physician's nurse practitioner or physician's assistant) to participate in sub-maximal physiological fitness testing and a low to moderate home-based walking and progressive resistance exercise program and to receive the 24-week supplementation of vitamin D.
• Must be less than five years from the diagnosis of breast cancer and must be within 12 months of starting treatment with aromatase inhibitors (AI) in accordance with American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) guidelines.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Subjects with life-threatening conditions that would preclude them from breast cancer treatment including chronic cardiac failure, which is unstable despite medication use, uncontrolled hypertension, uncontrolled diabetes mellitus, or unstable coronary artery disease.
• Patients who had a myocardial infarction within the past year.
• Patients with severe metabolic disorders, which includes phenylketonuria (PKU), homocystinuria, and Fabry's disease, that would preclude them from taking calcitriol.
• Patients with impaired renal function (CRCL < 60 mL/min) or who had kidney stones (calcium salt) within the past 5 years.
• Patients with hypercalcemia (corrected serum Ca ≥ 10.6 mg/dl) or a history of hypercalcemia or vitamin D toxicity.
• Patients currently taking calcium supplements or aluminum-based antacids must be willing to discontinue their use if they are to enroll in the study.
• Patients currently taking vitamin D supplements must immediately discontinue their use if they are to enroll in the study.
• Patients with a known sensitivity to vitamin D.
• Patients who are severely vitamin D deficient (<10 ng/ml).
• Women on antiresorptive drugs (e.g. bisphosphonates) within the past year.
• Patients not capable of participating in an exercise intervention due to severe knee arthrosis or ligament/cartilage injuries of the lower extremities.
• Women with malabsorptive syndromes (i.e. cystic fibrosis, chronic pancreatitis) or taking medications that decrease the absorption of fat soluble vitamins (i.e. Orlistat, Questran).

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Factorial Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Vitamin D3 50,000 IU; Vitamin D3 50,000 IU: Patients will be assigned to receive a daily multivitamin, calcium supplement and 50,000 IU/week of vitamin D for a period of 24 weeks.	Drug: Vitamin D3; Vitamin D3 50,000 IU
Active Comparator: Vitamin D3 50,000 IU and Physical Activity; Vitamin D3 50,000 IU and Physical Activity: Patients will be assigned to receive a daily multivitamin, calcium supplement, 50,000 IU/week of vitamin D, and a progressive walking and resistance band exercise prescription for a period of 24 weeks.	Drug: Vitamin D3; Vitamin D3 50,000 IU; Behavioral: Physical Activity; Progressive walking and resistance band exercise prescription for a period of 24 weeks
No Intervention: Control; Patients will be assigned to receive a daily multivitamin, calcium supplement, vitamin D placebo, and standard care monitoring.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Measure the Amount of Bone Mineral Density Loss in Non-metastatic Breast Cancer Patients Receiving a High Dose Vitamin D Therapy Along With a Structured Home-based Walking and Progressive Resistance Exercise Program.	To collect preliminary data on the effects of vitamin D therapy and exercise (alone or in combination) on bone mineral density (BMD) as measured by a dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in non-metastatic breast cancer patients who began hormonal therapy within the previous 12 months. Amount of bone loss was measured with change in BMD.	24 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Measure the Effect of Vitamin D and Muscle Strength in Non-metastatic Breast Cancer Patients	Measuring physical fitness for muscle strength using handgrip dynamometer in non-metastatic breast cancer patients who begin hormonal therapy within the previous 12 months.	24 weeks
Measure the Effect of Vitamin D and Aerobic Capacity in Non-metastatic Breast Cancer Patients	Pedometer for number of steps for aerobic capacity.	24 Weeks
Measure the Effect of Vitamin D and Balance in Non-metastatic Breast Cancer Patients	Testing Force Plate Area95 Eyes Closed Open Base for measure of balance	24 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Rochester
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Luke J Peppone, PhD, MPH, University of Rochester

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): August 1, 2011
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 30, 2024
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 30, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: August 11, 2011
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 16, 2011
• First Posted (Estimated): August 18, 2011

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): August 5, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 13, 2026
• Last Verified: July 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Motor Activity; Movement; Musculoskeletal Physiological Phenomena; Musculoskeletal and Neural Physiological Phenomena; Lipids; Polycyclic Compounds; Steroids; Fused-Ring Compounds; Cholestenes; Cholestanes; Sterols; Vitamin D; Secosteroids; Membrane Lipids; Cholecalciferol; Exercise
• Other Study ID Numbers: 34834