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Enhance your Probability of Cancer Survival with Adequate Vitamin D
October 15, 2008
In a 6 ½-year-study at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, scientists found that colorectal cancer patients with the highest blood levels of Vitamin D before diagnosis had the highest rate of survival.(1)
Canadian researchers report that women with normal vitamin D levels were more likely to survive breast cancer than those with deficiencies, who had had a 94% higher chance of cancer spreading and a 73% higher chance of dying from that cancer.(2)
These findings have raised another interesting question: could aggressive Vitamin D supplementation help in treating cancer? While the answer to this isn’t abundantly clear, research to answer this question is currently underway.
Moreover, boosting your vitamin D intake can dramatically reduce your risk of many forms of cancer, according to researchers at Creighton University Medical School in Omaha, Nebraska.
Dr. Joan Lappe, leader of the study, reported that a daily dose of 1,100 international units (IUs) a day of the “sunshine vitamin” definitely decreased the incidence of cancer.” Lappe’s team studied 1,179 female, postmenopausal study participants who lived in rural Nebraska. The women, who were free of known cancers for 10 years prior to the study, were divided into 3 groups and followed for 4 years.
One group took 1,400 to 1,500 milligrams of supplementary calcium a day, another group took that same amount of calcium plus 1,100 IUs of vitamin D daily, while the third group took placebo pills every day.
After four years, those in the combination vitamin D and calcium group had a 60 percent lower risk of developing cancer, compared to the placebo group. The calcium-only group had a 47 percent reduced risk.
The results were even more dramatic for members of the combination calcium-vitamin D group when researchers, who believed some women may have entered the study with undiagnosed cancer, eliminated data from the first year of the study. With the first year eliminated, that group had a 77% reduced risk of cancers compared to the placebo group. Risk for the calcium-only group was essentially unchanged.(3)
Some people worry that exposure to sunlight will increase skin cancer. As I point out in my book Proof Positive (pages 31-32), the risk of melanoma (the most serious form of skin cancer) increases with the number of sunburns. Childhood sunburns are particularly detrimental in this regard. Gentle exposure to the sun, on the other hand, does not increase melanoma risk.
25-Hydroxy Vitamin D blood level tests, especially for those with cancer, are part of my routine medical recommendation. Vitamin D should measure 50 nmol/L or greater. If the Vitamin D level is low, I generally recommend a prescription mega-dose ergocalciferol once to three times weekly to raise it. Over-the-counter Vitamin supplements are rarely effective in bringing up Vitamin D levels that are extremely low, but not for maintaining adequate Vitamin D levels for those not regularly exposed to the direct mid-day sun.
Should you Supplement with Vitamin D in the Winter?
Due to the angle of the sun, people living above the 37th parallel have difficulty making vitamin D in the winter. Such individuals may also benefit from Vitamin D supplements in the winter. The 37th parallel runs through the following places:
• Santa Cruz, California
• Gilroy, California
• Madera, California
• The northern borders of Arizona, New Mexico and Oklahoma
• Cairo, Illinois
• Bowling Green, Kentucky
• Newport News, Virginia
In the past, some researchers have maintained that Vitamin D2 was less effective than Vitamin D3 in maintaining adequate D levels. A recently published Boston University study disputes that claim, by showing that plant-based Vitamin D2 supplement works just as well as the most often animal-based Vitamin D3.(4)
Outside of fish, and fortified dairy products, Vitamin D can be obtained through Multigrain Cheerios (1 cup = 40 IU), Post Bran Flakes (1 cup = 40 IU), Kasha cereal (1 cup = 80 IU), and sun-dried shitake mushrooms (4 mushrooms = 260 IU). 15 minutes of mid-day sunlight remains one of the best sources of Vitamin D. In the absence of abundant sunlight, a UV light may also serve to trigger the body to produce the necessary Vitamin D.
(1)Goodwin PJ, Ennis M, et al. Frequency of vitamin D (Vit D) deficiency at breast cancer (BC) diagnosis and association with risk of distant recurrence and death in a prospective cohort study of T1-3, N0-1, M0 BC. J Clin Oncol 26: 2008 (May 20 suppl; abstr 511).
(2)Lappe JM, Traver-Gustafson D, et al. Vitamin D and calcium supplementation reduces cancer risk: results of a randomized trial. Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Jun;85(6):1586-91.
(3)Ng, Kimmie; Meyerhardt, Jeffrey A, et al. Circulating 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Levels and Survival in Patients with Colorectal Cancer. J. Clin. Oncol. 26: 2984-2991.
(4)Holick MF, Biancuzzo RM, Chen TC, et al. Vitamin D2 is as effective as vitamin D3 in maintaining circulating concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2008;93:677-681.
Topics: Health News