SHR

A new study by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute investigators demonstrates that vitamin D can protect some people with colorectal cancer by perking up the immune system's vigilance against tumor cells.

The research, published today by the journal Gut, represents the first time that a link between vitamin D and the immune response to cancer has been shown in a large human population. The finding adds to a growing body of research showing that vitamin D - known as the "sunshine vitamin" because it is produced by the body in response to sunlight exposure - plays a key role in cancer prevention.

American Society of Clinical Oncology Perspective:“In addition to improved survival, high vitamin D levels were associated with a longer time for the cancer to become resistant to chemotherapy, suggesting that vitamin D could slow down the growth of the cancer or enhance the activity of the treatment,” said Smitha S. Krishnamurthi, MD, moderator of today’s presscast and ASCO expert. “Further studies are needed to determine if the improved survival is due to the vitamin D itself or to some other factor associated with having high vitamin D levels.” ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A prospective analysis of data from a phase III study of patients newly diagnosed with metastatic colorectal cancer indicates that patients with higher vitamin D levels have better outcomes after treatment with chemotherapy and targeted therapy. The median overall survival for patients with the highest vitamin D levels was 32.6 months, compared with 24.5 months for patients with the lowest...

Vitamin D deficiency is linked with advanced stages of liver cancer and may be an indicator of a poor prognosis, according to a study of 200 patients with the disease who were followed for an average of 46 weeks. Blood levels of vitamin D negatively correlated with stages of the disease, and patients with severe vitamin D deficiency had more than a 2-fold increased risk of dying during the study, according to Dr. Oliver Waidmann, senior author of the Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics study. Referrence: Severe 25-hydroxyvitamin D deficiency identifies a poor prognosis in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma - aprospective cohort study. 2014 May;39(10):1204-12. doi: 10.1111/apt.12731. Epub 2014 Mar 29.    

This is right from the Vitamin D Council website.... While the article is titled "New trial suggest Vitamin D improves quality of life markers in healthy women" when you go to the paper cited it shows that they were really looking for the cardiometabolical protective effects of Vitamin D which are seen in population with high sun exposure... and the study failed to show any. The Vitamin D Council summary of the article states the following in contrast to the headline  "Many observational studies have noted that people with more sun exposure have better cardiovascular health. This includes a more favorable lipid profile, lower blood pressure, and better insulin sensitivity. These benefits have been attributed to increased vitamin D production, but randomized controlled trials (RCT) have had conflicting results regarding the effects of vitamin D supplementation on cardiovascular markers."     Could this be because the RCT's use Vitamin D administered...

Vitamin D has been shown to effect endothelial tissue and low vitamin D status has been linked to endothelial dysfunction in several studies. Endothelial dysfunction is thought to be the major cause of Erectile Dysfunction (ED). Last month a paper originally published in August of this year by Dr. Alessandra Barassi and colleagues over at the San Paolo Hospital, University of Milan, Italy, appeared in the Journal of Sexual Medicine. They looked at Vitamin D status in a cohort of 143 men diagnosed with clinical ED. Diagnosis and severity of ED was based upon the IEFF-5 assessment score system and men were classified as either arteriogeinc, borderline aretriogenic or non-nrteriogenic using Echo Color Doppler. Doppler readings were take while flaccid and after a single Prostaglandin 1E injection to cause spontaneous erection. This allowed for the Doppler to view a blood-engorged Corpus Cavernosum and classify the men. Both serum 25-OH-D and Parathyroid hormone...