Vitamin D and prostate cancer

Article by Arnie Gitomer

Recent studies have been inconsistent in showing a benefit for vitamin D in prostate cancer, but doctors said that few studies have measured the most clinically relevant outcome, prostate cancer survival.

In this study, doctors analyzed vitamin D levels in 1,000 men before a diagnosis of prostate cancer. During 23 years of follow up, after adjusting for age, physical activity, smoking, and family health history, men with higher vitamin D levels prior to being diagnosed with prostate cancer were 28 percent less likely to have died by the end of the study compared to men with lower vitamin D levels.

Doctors said the findings may have important public health implications, and that supplementing with vitamin D to ensure sufficient levels in men may increase survival.

(Reference: Cancer, Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; January, 2016, Published Online)