Can vitamin D protect you from cancer?

In the 1980’s researchers made the first connection between vitamin D deficiency and some cancers in when they noted populations at higher latitudes (with less available sunlight) were more likely to be deficient in vitamin D, which is produced by the body through exposure to sunshine, and experience higher rates of colon cancer. Subsequent studies by tfound vitamin D links to other cancers, such as breast, lung and bladder.

In a recent study, scientists reported that when women upped their vitamin D dosage, they were nearly one-third more likely to survive breast cancer, particularly for premenopausal women. The mechanism is vitamin D’s ability to stop the reproduction of cancer cells.  Researchers examined 1,666 women with breast cancer and found that the more 25-hydroxyvitamin D (250HD, a blood biomarker for vitamin D) they had, the better their chances of survival.   It should be noted that this research does not mean that low levels of vitamin D cause breast cancer nor should women with breast cancer flock to the nearest beach to sunbath.  Having said that researchers did comment that extra vitamin D can’t hurt.

Another important review which came out in 2016 linking low levels of vitamin D and aggressive prostate cancer. Researchers from Northwestern Medicine disclosing that:

“Deficient vitamin D blood levels in men can predict aggressive prostate cancer identified at the time of surgery. The finding is important because it can offer guidance to men and their doctors who may be considering active surveillance, in which they monitor the cancer rather than remove the prostate.”

One of the crucial things to note is that low vitamin D levels were found via blood tests before any sign of prostate cancer showed up, so checking vitamin D levels beforehand could be life-saving, and a much better alternative to begin taking it a problem is discovered.

Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report that higher levels of vitamin D — specifically serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D — are associated with a correspondingly reduced risk of cancer. The findings published in PLOS ONE  in 2016 found that raising your vitamin D levels (if they are low) can slash your risk of invasive cancers excluding skin cancer by 67%!

References

1. Yao S, Kwan ML, Ergas IJ. Association of Serum Level of Vitamin D at Diagnosis With Breast Cancer Survival A Case-Cohort Analysis in the Pathways Study. JAMA Oncology. 2016
2. YA, N, et al. (2016). Associations Between Serum Vitamin D and Adverse Pathology in Men Undergoing Radical Prostatectomy. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 34: 1345-1349
3. Sharon L. McDonnell, Carole Baggerly, Christine B. French, Leo L. Baggerly, Cedric F. Garland, Edward D. Gorham, Joan M. Lappe, Robert P. Heaney .Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Concentrations ≥40 ng/ml Are Associated with >65% Lower Cancer Risk: Pooled Analysis of Randomized Trial and Prospective Cohort Study. PLOS ONE, 2016; 11 (4)