Vitamin D helps colorectal cancer patients: study

[Guest guest]

Vitamin D helps colorectal cancer patients: study

Thu Jun 19, 2008 1:28am EDT

By Will Dunham

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vitamin D may extend the lives of people with

colon and rectal cancer, according to a study published on Wednesday

suggesting another health benefit from the so-called sunshine vitamin.

Previous research has indicated that people with higher levels of

vitamin D may be less likely to develop colon and rectal cancer, also

called colorectal cancer.

The new study led by Dr. Kimmie Ng of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in

Boston involved 304 men and women diagnosed with colorectal cancer

from 1991 to 2002, to see if higher levels of vitamin D in the

patients affected their survival chances.

In fact, that turned out to be the case.

The researchers in the study, published in the Journal of Clinical

Oncology, used blood samples to determine vitamin D levels of the

patients, and they were tracked for an average of about 6-1/2 years.

Those in the highest 25 percent of vitamin D levels were about 50

percent less likely to die during the study from their cancer or any

other cause compared to the patients in the lowest 25 percent of

vitamin D levels.

During the study, 123 of the patients died, 96 of them from colorectal

cancer.

" It's probably premature to say that we should be recommending this as

treatment for colon cancer, but vitamin D should definitely be studied

in the setting of a clinical trial to see if it has any benefit to

treating colorectal cancer, " Ng said in a telephone interview.

Ng said a clinical study is being planned to test vitamin D as part of

colorectal cancer treatment. It would involve patients who already

have gotten their cancer surgically removed, with some getting

chemotherapy with vitamin D after surgery and the others getting just

the standard chemotherapy.

" Definitive evidence of a benefit of vitamin D in treating colon

cancer would have to come from a clinical trial, " Ng said.

The body makes vitamin D when the skin is exposed to sunlight, thus

earning its nickname the " sunshine vitamin. " Milk commonly is

fortified with it, and it is found in fatty fish like salmon. But many

people do not get enough of it.

Vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium and is considered important

for bone health. In adults, vitamin D deficiency can lead to

osteoporosis, and it can lead to rickets in children.

A number of recent studies have indicated vitamin D also may offer a

variety of other health benefits, including protecting against types

of cancer such as breast cancer, peripheral artery disease and

tuberculosis.

According to the American Cancer Society, about 1.2 million new cases

of colorectal cancer are diagnosed a year, and the disease kills about

630,000 people a year, accounting for 8 percent of all cancer deaths.

In addition, a study published on June 9 in the journal Archives of

Internal Medicine found that men with low levels of vitamin D had an

elevated risk for a heart attack.

The American Medical Association, the largest U.S. doctors group,

voted this week to urge the Food and Drug Administration to re-examine

recommendations for vitamin D intake in light of new scientific

findings showing its benefits.

(Editing by Steenhuysen and Osterman)