Vitamin D is also known as the “sunshine vitamin” because it’s produced in your skin in response to sunlight. Vitamin D is critical for bone health and general health.
Low levels of vitamin D in blood have been linked to cancer and other diseases.
But taking Vitamin D supplements to control an existing prostate cancer is controversial.
In the lab, Vitamin D can stop prostate cancer cells growing and spreading.
One human trial suggested better outcome when high strength vitamin D is combined with standard chemotherapy. But a second trial involving prostate cancer patients showed an unexpected and unexplained increase in death rate in patients taking Vitamin D with chemotherapy.
So the answer is “no” – Vitamin D cannot be used to control prostate cancer.
Related Links:
1. Sung V. 1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 decreases human prostate cancer cell adhesion and migration. Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2000;164:133–143.
2. Moffatt KA. Growth inhibitory effects of 1α, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 are mediated by increased levels of p21 in the prostatic carcinoma cell line ALVA-31. Cancer Res. 2001;61:7122–7129.
3. Double-blinded randomized study of high-dose calcitriol plus docetaxel compared with placebo plus docetaxel in androgen-independent prostate cancer: a report from the ASCENT Investigators. J Clin Oncol. 2007 Feb 20;25(6):669-74.
4. Another Clinical Trial Failure – Ascent-2 https://malecare.org/another-clinical-trial-failure-ascent-2/
5. Randomized, open-label phase III trial of docetaxel plus high-dose calcitriol versus docetaxel plus prednisone for patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer. J Clin Oncol. 2011 Jun 1;29(16):2191-8.
Dr S Sundar 