Vitamin D May Boost Colon Cancer Survival Rates

Could vitamin D help patients with advanced colon cancer? New research that will be presented at the Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium in San Francisco examines how the "sunshine vitamin" could help patients improve their response to chemotherapy and targeted anti-cancer drugs.

For the study, a team of researchers measured the vitamin D content in the blood levels of 1,043 patients in a phase 3 clinical trial. Then, they compared three first-line treatments for newly diagnosed, advanced colon cancer. All three of the treatments involved chemotherapy, along with the targeted anti-cancer drugs bevacizumab and/or cetuximab.

Though vitamin D is typically absorbed by people who are exposed to the sun, it also comes from many foods and in some supplemental forms, as well. The vitamin helps to regulate certain mineral levels in the body, including phosphorous and calcium.

Findings showed that vitamin D was linked to higher colon cancer survival rates. However, researchers are still working to determine exactly why this is the case. 

With future research, the study authors hope to investigate how vitamin D could work as a potential anti-cancer tool.

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