Lee Swanson Research Update

Vitamin D May Play Key Role in Colon Cancer Survival

Colon cancer patients with high blood levels of vitamin D boost their survival odds by 48%, a new study suggests.

Previous studies have indicated that high levels of vitamin D may reduce the risk of getting colon cancer by 51%. But until now, no studies have looked at whether vitamin D could improve survival among people who already had the disease.

“Vitamin D has been studied for many years, and there is a lot of data that it could be implicated in cancer pathogenesis,” lead researcher Dr. Kimmie Ng explained. “Vitamin D is involved in a lot of things that can go wrong in cancer,” she noted.

In the study, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Ng’s team collected data on 304 patients diagnosed with colon cancer between 1991 and 2002. These patients participated in either the Nurses Health Study or the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study.

All those in the study had their vitamin D levels measured at least two years before being diagnosed with colon cancer. The patients’ health was tracked until they died, or until 2005, whichever came first. During the follow-up period, 123 patients died, 96 of them from colon or rectal cancer, the researchers reported.

The team found that patients with the highest levels of vitamin D were 48% less likely to die from colon cancer or any other cause, compared with those with the lowest levels. For colon cancer alone, those with the highest vitamin D levels were 39% less likely to die, compared to those with the lowest levels of vitamin D.

Journal of Clinical Oncology 26(18):2984-2991, 2008

New to Natural Health?
Tools
Customer Service