Vitamin D and Cancer Prevention
Researchers are finding that the health benefits of vitamin D are more far-reaching than originally perceived. Vitamin D, a prohormone, is converted to the active hormone 1,25-D via metabolism in the liver and kidneys. It has recently been shown that this conversion to active metabolite also occurs in breast and colon cancer cells.
The most direct natural source of vitamin D is through the sun; however, there are vitamin supplements and limited food items such as eggs and cold-water fish including salmon, herring and mackerel that also provide vitamin D to the body.
Over the past several years, growing concerns over links between sun exposure and skin cancer have led to higher instances of vitamin D deficiencies in otherwise healthy individuals. With the increase in vitamin D deficiencies, comes the concern of possible health implications that are traditionally not detected in humans with healthy vitamin D levels. The known health benefits of vitamin D include balanced blood calcium levels, enhanced immunity and decreased high blood pressure.
Recent studies have found that the link between vitamin D and cancer prevention is overwhelmingly high, especially in breast and colon cancer. Rajendra Mehta, Ph.D., Assistant Vice-President and Head of the Carcinogenesis and Chemoprevention Division at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IITRI), and Genoveva Murillo, Ph.D., R.D., Research Biologist at IITRI, are conducting several ongoing studies that investigate the role of vitamin D (and its less toxic analogs) against breast and colon carcinogenesis.
Dr. Murillo has also been investigating the role that vitamin D has in the prevention and treatment of inflammation-associated colon cancer. This specific form of colon cancer is rising in the United States as a result of increased incidence of inflammatory bowel diseases including ulcerative colitis and Crohn�s disease. The rise in these diseases is believed to be associated with sterile environment regulations in the country. Although these environments provide assurance of cleaner and healthier environmental and working conditions, the human immune system may, at the same time, become weakened to various diseases in part because bacteria that may prevent a disease is completely removed from the environment.
Although in the early phases, the vitamin D research being conducted at IITRI is very promising. Over the next several months, Drs. Mehta and Murillo, along with the Carcinogenesis and Chemoprevention Division, plan to move ahead with investigations into cancer prevention through natural resources and hope to produce continued evidence that vitamin D and its analogs are extremely beneficial for maintaining a healthy body.