Vitamin D helps prevent colorectal cancer: New study

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Vitamin D helps prevent colorectal cancer: New study

Vitamin D can help prevent colorectal cancer by boosting human immune system’s function against cancerous cells, a new study shows.

The study, which was carried out by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and whose results were published by the journal Gut on January 16, showed that “vitamin D can protect some people with colorectal cancer by perking up the immune system’s vigilance against tumor cells.”

According to the study’s senior author, Shuji Ogino, “This is the first study to show evidence of the effect of vitamin D on anti-cancer immune function in actual patients, and vindicates basic laboratory discoveries that vitamin D can interact with the immune system to raise the body’s defenses against cancer.”

In the new study, researchers collected data from 170,000 people using two long-term healthcare research projects: the Nurses’ Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study.

Among participants in the study, 318 had colorectal cancer and 624 had no cancer. Blood samples from patients were tested for 25-hydroxyvitamin D, which is a substance produced from vitamin D in the liver.

The results demonstrated that the risk of developing cancerous cells among those patients with high amounts of 25-hydroxyvitamin D was lower than average.

Colorectal cancer begins in either the colon or the rectum, affecting the digestive system.

Vitamin D is an essential vitamin usually synthesized in the body through sunlight exposure. Its main function is to facilitate absorption of calcium and phosphorus in human bones.

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