Protection from cancer: A good status of Vitamin-D

Protection from cancer: A good status of Vitamin-D

According to researchers a good status of Vitamin-D in a person can do wonders in the prevention of cancer as well as prognosis of various types of cancer. Vit-D consists of anti-cancerous properties which is helpful in the prevention as well as the treatment of both colon and blood cancer. Additionally, high vitamin-D responsiveness in a person can lead to the smaller cancer risks. They added responsiveness of Vitamin-D varies from person to person by affecting their needs for Vitamin-D.

Role of Vitamin-D in Cancer

The molecular basis of Vitamin-D signaling as well its role in the prevention and treatment of cancer is provided in the review article, published in Seminars in Cancer Biology and written by Professor Carsten Carlberg from the University of Eastern Finland and Professor Alberto Muñoz from the Autonomous University of Madrid.

Role of Vitamin-D in Immunity

As we all know vit-D is known for its main and crucial role in bone health but while performing research the researchers noticed that it has some role in immune health too, and immune cells like T-cells and monocytes mediates its anti-cancerous effects. Vit-D receptor is a transcription factor which exerts the effects of vitamin-D and VDR is also involved in the expression as well as epigenetic regulation of various genes.

Different Cancers and Vitamin-D

In the study scientists focused on the effects of the Vit-D in various types of cancer and the outcome was that it is more beneficial in treating the colorectal cancer and the blood cancer like leukaemia and lymphomas. Vitamin-D plays role in the differentiation of blood cells during Haematopoiesis as well as adult stem cells in rapid regeneration of tissues like colon or skin. Researchers discovered that the too low level of the Vitamin-D can lead to the suboptimal function of VDR  and can cause the risk in the partial differentiation of cells  which can cause the uncontrolled growth of cancer cells.

Vitamin-D is a group of fat soluble secosteroids and the main function of the Vit-D is to increase the intestinal absorption of calcium, magnesium, phosphorous and it has various other biological effects. Vitamin-D3 (cholecalciferol) and Vitamin-D2(ergocalciferol) are the most important compounds in the group of Vitamin-D which are found in humans.

Sources of vitamin-D includes sunlight and due to sun exposure cholecalciferol is synthesized in the lower layer of skin epidermis by a chemical reaction. Cheese, milk, salmon, egg, yogurt etc are few other sources of vit-D.

For other types of cancer like breast cancer and prostate cancer a low level of vitamin-D is measured as the level of hydroxy vitamin-D in blood, which is considered as the higher reason of cancer and the poorer prognosis. During the research Vitamin-D supplementation has not played any role in the process to reduce cancer. According to researcher’s review vitamin D doesn’t work for everyone it can work according to the responsiveness of the individual as well as the health outcomes analysis with respect to changes in the vitamin-D status of the individual.

Earlier proven by Professor Carlberg's research group that the every individual has different molecular response to the supplementation of vitamin-D. For example: out of 25% population Finnish is low responder, which needs high supplementation dose of vit-D for the purpose of reaching full clinical benefits. For prevention of cancer higher effects of vitamin D can be seen in the individual with higher response.

Conclusion

By concluding the complete review researchers concluded that a good vitamin D status can prevent cancer but there are very less evidence of using vitamin D for cancer treatment.

Journal Reference

• Carsten Carlberg, Alberto Muñoz. An update on vitamin D signaling and cancer. Seminars in Cancer Biology, 2020; DOI: 10.1016/j.semcancer.2020.05.018