Tuesday Jan 20, 2015 (foodconsumer.org) -- A study scheduled to be presented at the 2015 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium suggests that taking vitamin D supplements may help patients with metastatic colorectal cancer or advanced colorectal cancer to survive longer.

The study looked at data from 1,043 patients with metastatic colorectal cancer who were enrolled in a randomized trial of three colorectal cancer treatments.  

The study showed advanced colorectal cancer patients with the highest serum vitamin D levels survived a median of 32.6 months, compared to 24.5 months among patients with the lowest serum vitamin D levels.

Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with more than 100 health conditions including cancer, autism, heart disease, diabetes mellitus, and depression, according to Vitamin D Council.

Vitamin D supplements can be purchased from online stores or your local health stores.  (David Liu)

Ng, K. et al. 2015, Vitamin D status and survival of metastatic colorectal cancer patients: Results from CALGB/SWOG 80405. Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.