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Research
Suggests Vitamin D Plays a Large Role
in Preventing and Fighting Lung Cancer
(April 21st, 2009)
 According
to the 100th Annual Meeting at the
American
Association for Cancer Research,
lung cancer cells within our body
tend to be destroyed by Vitamin D
cells that are vital in fighting against
cancers. New research done at the
AACR suggests Vitamin D can significantly
reduce the risk of several types of
cancer, including lung cancer. Vitamin
D is a soluble fat vitamin that is
derived from dietary supplements such
as cereals, fish (tuna, salmon &
mackerel), and fortified milk. The
pioneer of the study was William B.
Grant, director of the Sunlight, Nutrition
and Health Research Center in San
Francisco. He summarizes and links
the ecological properties vitamin
D, solar ultraviolet B (UVB) and lung
cancer. Vitamin D derived from the
sun is most effective to fight against
these types of cancer; ovarian cancer,
kidney cancer, colon and breast cancer,
as well as lung cancer. Dr. William
suggests Vitamin D is strong enough
to prevent the development of Cancer
such that it should be used more in
making Cancer treatments. Patients
can get a dose of Vitamin D in a couple
of ways; through ultraviolet exposure
and from certain diets including salmon,
milk, eggs and egg yolks. The image
on the left shows that Vitamin D has
2 main forms; D2 (ergocalciferol)
and D3 (cholecalciferol) and the vitamin
is obtained through sunlight (ultraviolet
radiation) and in diets from fish
liver oil, egg yolks, met and supplements.
It is estimated
that daily dose of the above diet
provides only 200 to 300 IU (International
Units) of vitamin D each day which
is only a partial fraction of the
total dose of diet recommended for
cancer prevention. 1 IU is equivalent
to 0.667 mg d-alpha-tocopherol, or
of 1 mg of dl-alpha-tocopherol acetate.
The sun on the other hand is considered
to be a much more important source
of vitamin D than diets. It is estimated
that by hanging out in the summer
months of USA when it is hot and the
sun is out, patients can absorb 1500
IU of vitamin D. This equates to about
5 - 10 minutes of midday sun exposure
without sunscreen. Jim Sheperd, president
of the UV Foundation has this to say
"More and more science is emerging
every day confirming the enormous
health benefits of vitamin D and the
significant health consequences of
not getting enough of it. This study
is further evidence that getting a
daily dose of sunshine is useful in
the prevention of many types of cancer."
An interesting fact
found from the study suggests that
cancer patients who had high intake
of vitamin D doses from sunshine in
summer months and who had Surgery
during this time were more likely
to live 5 years more than people who
had surgery during winter months.
Michael Thun, chief epidemiologist
at the American Cancer Society quotes,
"This is a very interesting study.
It's a new trend — looking at
dietary factors as they relate to
survival, not just the risk of getting
a certain cancer." In a study
of 456 patients who had early stage
lung cancer at the Massachusetts General
Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute,
it was found that those patients who
had higher levels of vitamin D exposure
from summer sunlight had the best
5 year survival rates than those people
who had Surgery during winter. Infact,
the scenario was 72% for the summer
patients and 28% for the winter exposure
patients. Patients in this clinical
trial were interviewed about their
diets, timing of their cancer surgeries
and type of supplements they took.
So what is the balance
between how much sun exposure you
should get, and what amount of sun
exposure you should not get? Cedric
Garland, a professor of family and
preventive medicine at the University
of California, San Diego (UCSD), and
member (Moores UCSD Cancer Center)
in La Jolla, California quotes, "It
would be false prudence to stay out
of the sun to prevent skin cancer
and not get enough vitamin D. Everyone
should be taking vitamin D—and,
at all latitudes, there's plenty of
potential to make vitamin D. Even
in Helsinki, people can take advantage
of the sun in summer months."
Related Resources
i) Vitamin
D - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopaedia
ii) Vitamin
D Council - Understanding Vitamin
D Cholecalciferol
iii) MedlinePlus
Medical Encyclopedia: Vitamin D
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