A study published in JAMA Oncology showed, interestingly, that the benefits of vitamin D3 supplementation for the prevention of advanced colorectal adenomas may vary according to vitamin D receptor genotype.5 The study of about 1700 people showed that the effect of vitamin D3 supplementation on advanced adenomas varied according to genotype at 2 vitamin D receptor SNPs: supplementation reduced risk among patients with rs7968585 with the AA genotype, though it increased risk among patients with 1 or 2 G alleles.

The researchers said that these results are a “first step” toward identifying which individuals may benefit or be harmed by vitamin D interventions, reflecting the variety of results from studies of supplementation in recent years.

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According to the National Cancer Institute, there are not enough available data to establish whether taking vitamin D can prevent cancer.6 New randomized trials will need to be conducted to more fully understand the effect of vitamin D on cancer and its outcomes.

RELATED: Vitamin D Deficiency Linked to Bladder Cancer

Among those studies in progress are the Vitamin D/Calcium Polyp Prevention Study (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00153816), which is examining whether vitamin D supplementation given alone or with calcium prevents the development of colorectal adenomas in patients with previous adenoma removal, and the VITAL trial (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01169259), which is evaluating whether vitamin D supplements can prevent a variety of cancers in older men and women. 

References

  1. Nyame YA, Murphy AB, Bowen DK, et al. Associations between serum vitamin D and adverse pathology in men undergoing radical prostatectomy. J Clin Oncol. 2016;34(12):1345-9.
  2. Low vitamin D levels linked to increased risk of bladder cancer. University of Warwick website. http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/news/low_vitamin_d/. Published November 8, 2016. Accessed December 19, 2016.
  3. McDonnell SL, Baggerly C, French CB, et al. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations >=40 ng/mL associated with a >65% lower cancer risk: pooled analysis of randomized trial and prospective cohort study. PLoS One. 2016;11(4):e0152441.
  4. Yao S, Kwan ML, Ergas IJ, et al. Association of serum level of vitamin D at diagnosis with breast cancer survival: a case-cohort analysis in the pathways study. JAMA Oncol. 2016 Nov 10. doi: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2016.4188 [Epub ahead of print]
  5. Barry EL, Peacock JL, Rees JR, et al. Vitamin D receptor genotype, vitamin D3 supplementation, and risk of colorectal adenomas: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA Oncol. 2016 Dec 15. doi: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2016.5917 [Epub ahead of print]
  6. Chung M, Lee J, Terasawa T, Lau J, Trikalinos TA. Vitamin D with or without calcium supplementation for prevention of cancer and fractures: an updated meta-analysis for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Ann Intern Med. 2011;155(12):827-38.

Topics:

Bladder Cancer Bone Cancer Brain Cancer Breast Cancer Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Endocrine Cancer Gastrointestinal Cancer General Oncology Genitourinary Cancer Gynecologic Cancers Head and Neck Cancer Hematologic Cancers Lung Cancer Lymphoma Multiple Myeloma Pediatric Cancer Prostate Cancer Renal Cell Carcinoma Sarcoma Skin Cancer