Elsewhere, vitamin D supplementation was found to slow or prevent the progression of low-grade prostate cancer in a randomized trial, reported researchers.
In a study of 37 men who were to undergo prostatectomies, researchers gave 4,000 IU of vitamin D to one group and placebos to the other. After 60 days — the time that passed between biopsy and prostatectomy — the prostate glands were removed.
Preliminary analysis showed that the prostate tumors of those received vitamin D supplements regressed, while tumors in the control group either stayed the same or got worse, said Bruce Hollis, PhD, from the Medical University of South Carolina, in a presentation at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society in Denver.
“We saw some really incredible molecular changes,” said Hollis. “For instance, the No. 1 gene that showed up on the heat map was a substance called growth differentiating factor-15,” which acts through an anti-inflammatory pathway and can cut inflammation.
“It looks like the treatment of vitamin D actually had profound effects,” Hollis said, even though the dosage was relatively small.