Prostate cancer | High vitamin D levels improve prognosis
If men with prostate cancer have relatively high levels of vitamin D in their blood - whether from sunlight exposure or supplementation - their outlook may be better than if their vitamin D status is only so-so, a meta-study published in 2018 in Endocrine Connections suggests.
Study
Chinese urologists affiliated with Jinshan Hospital of Fudan University tracked down seven previously published epidemiological studies in which researchers measured the concentration of vitamin D in the blood of men with prostate cancer - and compared the concentrations with those of men without prostate cancer.
So we're talking about cohort studies here. All epidemiological studies require caution in interpreting the results, and this is especially true for cohort studies.
Results
The more vitamin D was present in the blood of study participants, the lower the chance that the study participants in question would die. The chance of dying from prostate cancer specifically was also lower as the concentration of vitamin D was higher.
The study participants with the highest vitamin D levels were about 40 percent less likely to die than the study participants with the lowest vitamin D levels.
The researchers were able to calculate that an increase in vitamin D levels of 20 nanomoles per liter correlated with a reduction in the risk of death of almost 10 percent.
The figure below relates to the total risk of death. It is strikingly similar to the figure showing the relationship between vitamin D and death from prostate cancer.
Conclusion
"We can draw the conclusion that higher vitamin D level is significantly associated with a risk reduction of all-cause mortality and prostate cancer-specific mortality, indicating vitamin D may exert a protective effect in the progression and prognosis of prostate cancer", the researchers write.
Source:
Endocr Connect. 2018 Dec 1;7(12):R294-303.
More:
Higher vitamin D levels, lower PSA 06.01.2025
How a soya and vitamin D combination kills prostate cancer cells 10.03.2013
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