Thursday Nov 24, 2016 (foodconsumer.org) -- Taking a vitamin D supplement, the sunshine vitamin in high doses frequently may help patients with prostate cancer survive, according to an observational study released in 2016 in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
The current study shows that patients with prostate cancer who had high circulating vitamin D at diagnosis tended to live longer or had a longer survival, compared to those with lower levels of vitamin D.
The study was based on data from the Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention (ATBC) Study which monitored prediagnostic serum 25-hydroxy-vitamin D (25(OH)D) in 1000 patients with prostate cancer who were followed up for 23 years.
Exactly, patients with higher circulating 25(OH)D were found 28% less likely to die from prostate cancer, compared to those with lower serum levels of vitamin D.
It remains unclear whether or not high serum levels of vitamin D helps prevent prostate cancer. Some studies linked high circulating vitamin D to high risk of developing prostate cancer while vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency was linked to high risk of many types of cancers. Vitamin D does provide many health benefits including bone health and prevention against many cancers and infections.
Prostate cancer in many cases are non-aggressive and easy to treat. Many patients achieve a long-term survival. Vitamin D in doses of up to 10,000 IU per day for adults is considered safe by many vitamin D researchers. It does not cause any side effects when it is used in a proper dosage. But there is an optimal dose for the cancer prevention and treatment.
Vitamin D sources are limited and there are not many foods that provide much vitamin D. Sunlight is the main source of vitamin D, that is, when a person is exposed to sunlight, he biosynthesizes the vitamin. (David Liu)
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