Could Vitamin D Protect Against Colorectal Cancer?

Could taking vitamin D supplements help prevent metastatic colorectal cancer or prolong survival through advanced colorectal cancer?

For the study, researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, a Harvard affiliate, looked at data from 170,000 participants in the Nurses' Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-Up study, two long-term health-tracking research projects. Within the population, scientists compared selected groups of 318 colorectal cancer patients and 624 cancer-free individuals. All 942 of them had blood samples drawn in the 1990s before any developed cancer. The investigators tested the samples for 25-hydroxyvitamin D-abbreviated 25 (OH)D-a substance that's found in the liver from vitamin D.

Findings showed that patients with high amounts of 25 (OH)D also had a lower-than-average risk of developing colorectal tumors due to advanced immune activity.

"This is the first study to show evidence of the effect of vitamin D on anti-cancer immune function in actual patients, and vindicates basic laboratory discoveries that vitamin D can interact with the immune system to raise the body's defenses against cancer," Ogino concluded, in a news release. "In the future, we may be able to predict how increasing an individual's vitamin D intake and immune function can reduce his or her risk of colorectal cancer."

More information regarding the findings can be seen via the journal Gut.

Vitamin D, which can be found in a small amount of foods, such as fatty fish, dairy products, juices and some cereals that have been "fortified with vitamin D," has previously been used to help treat or prevent rickets, osteoporosis, bone pain, osteogenesis and hyperparathyroidism. However, most of us get the majority of our vitamin D through the sun, which can be difficult for those living in climates with less sun and colder temperatures.

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