High Prevalence of Vitamin D Deficiency in Patients With Basal Cell Nevus Syndrome

OBJECTIVES To evaluate vitamin D status in patients with basal cell nevus syndrome (BCNS) who practice photoprotection because of their genetic predisposition to skin cancer and to determine risk factors for deficiency. DESIGN Retrospective cohort study. SETTING Academic medical centers. PATIENTS Forty-one ambulatory patients with BCNS who participated in a 2-year chemoprevention clinical trial. Population-based controls (n = 360) were selected and matched by age, sex, Fitzpatrick skin type, and season/geography. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) and vitamin D deficiency (defined as a 25[OH]D level of ≤20 ng/mL). RESULTS Twenty-three patients with BCNS (56%) were vitamin D deficient. Patients with BCNS had mean 25(OH)D levels below those of the general population (−3 ng/mL; P = .02) and were 3 times more likely to be vitamin D deficient (56% vs 18%; P