Increased levels of Vitamin D associated with lower risk of cancer
A new study led by researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have found out that increased levels of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D, the main form of vitamin D in the blood, is correlated with reduced risk of cancer.
Cedric Garland, DrPH, an adjunct professor in the UC San Diego School of Medicine Department of Family Medicine and Public Health and one of the authors of the said study published in the online issue of PLOS ONE on April 6, said that they have “quantitated the ability of adequate amounts of vitamin D to prevent all types of invasive cancer combined, which had been terra incognita until publication of this paper”.
This connection between some forms of cancer and vitamin D deficiency was first made by Garland along with his late brother, Frank. They observed that populations with less sunlight at higher latitudes were more likely to have vitamin D deficiency and experience increased rates of colon cancer. Further studies also linked vitamin D to other forms of cancer like bladder, breast, and lung.
The new study wanted to find out what blood level of vitamin D was needed to effectively reduce risk of cancer. They used a non-traditional method of combining two previous studies together to get larger sample size and range of blood serum levels of the 25(OH)D. The results indicated that women with 25(OH)D concentrations of 40 ng/ml or greater had a 67 percent lower risk of cancer than women with levels of 20 ng/ml or less.
Garland said that efforts to increase 25(OH)D concentrations to a minimum of 40 ng/ml in the general population would substantially reduce cancer incidence and associated mortality.
To conclude this study, the researchers wrote, “Primary prevention of cancer, rather than solely expanding early detection or improving treatment, will be essential for reversing the current upward trend of cancer incidence worldwide; this analysis suggests that improving vitamin D status is a key prevention tool.”
Source: Science Daily
