"Vitamin D decreases inflammation in tissues, and inflammation is a driver of cancer,"
explained Bruce Hollis, the study's lead researcher and a professor of
pediatrics, biochemistry and molecular biology at the Medical University
of South Carolina in Charleston.
For the study, researchers randomly assigned 37 men who elected to have their prostate removed to receive either 4,000 international units (IU) of vitamin D or an inactive placebo daily for 60 days before their operation.
When the prostate gland was examined after their
surgery, researchers found that many who received vitamin D had
improvements in their prostate tumors, while the tumors in the placebo
group remained the same or got worse.
"In greater than 60 percent of those taking it, vitamin D actually made the cancer better," said Hollis.
Hollis reported that in some cases the tumor shrank
and in others the cancer went away. However, the study was small, and
results from a larger trial aren't expected for several years, he added.
Doctors often recommend a "watch and wait" period
for men with low-grade, or less aggressive, prostate tumors. But many
patients and their families aren't comfortable waiting and opt to have
surgery before it's deemed medically necessary. These findings suggest
that taking vitamin D might help reduce the need for such radical
treatment.
But Dr. Anthony D'Amico, chief of radiation
oncology at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, said that this
study was too small to reach any definitive conclusion about the value
of vitamin D in fighting prostate cancer.
"It's premature to make any conclusions," he said.
The findings also need to be replicated in a much larger number of
patients, D'Amico said.
D'Amico stressed that men should not start taking vitamin D supplements in hopes of slowing or curing prostate cancer.
Vitamin D, known as the "sunshine vitamin," is
produced by the body when it's exposed to sun. It's also found in
fortified dairy products and fatty fish.
The study results were scheduled for presentation
Monday at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society in Denver.
Data and conclusions presented at meetings are usually considered
preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed medical journal.
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