Scientific Link Between Vitamin D Deficiency and Cancer

Scientific Link Between Vitamin D Deficiency and Cancer
by Sarfraz Zaidi

body? Even in patients with a diagnosis of cancer, proper vitamin D supplementation
plays an important role in treating cancer and preventing its recurrence.

What promotes cancer growth?

In the last two decades, research has clearly shown two factors can promote growth
of cancer: Vitamin D deficiency and Insulin Resistance Syndrome. First, let's examine
how cancer develops. In your body, old cells are constantly dying and fresh new cells
are being born. In other words, there is a continuing cycle of death and birth of cells.
There is also a fine balance between the death and the birth of cells.

Vitamin D is involved in the death of cells and insulin is involved in the growth of new
cells. Now consider a scenario where vitamin D is low in the body and insulin level is
high. Both of these factors cause a shift in the normal balance of the death and birth
of cells. Low vitamin D causes a decrease in the death of cells and a high insulin level
causes an increase in the growth of cells. The net result is an enormous increase in
the number of cells. This is exactly what happens when you have cancer; an
unlimited growth of abnormal cells in your body.

A high level of insulin is present in people with Insulin Resistance Syndrome (also
known as Metabolic Syndrome). Briefly, Insulin Resistance Syndrome consists of
obesity, hypertension, low HDL cholesterol, high triglycerides, pre-diabetes or
diabetes, polycystic ovary syndrome and high uric acid level. You don't have to have
all of these features. Just a couple of them are enough to have a diagnosis of Insulin
Resistance Syndrome. Some complications of Insulin Resistance Syndrome include:
coronary artery disease, stroke and fatty liver. For an in depth look at Insulin
Resistance Syndrome, please read my book, "Take Charge of Your Diabetes."

We could call Vitamin D deficiency and high insulin two important promoters of
cancer. It's interesting to note that Vitamin D deficiency has been shown to worsen
Insulin Resistance Syndrome which results in a further increase in insulin level.

In addition, obesity, which often plays a central role in Insulin Resistance Syndrome,
also causes vitamin D deficiency. Obesity is the obvious common denominator for
insulin resistance and vitamin D deficiency. For a long time, physicians have known
obesity to be a strong risk factor for cancer. Now we understand that Vitamin D
deficiency and insulin resistance are two pathways for how obesity is linked to
cancer. Both vitamin D deficiency and Insulin Resistance Syndrome have reached
epidemic proportions, affecting hundreds of millions of people around the world.
What's alarming is that both vitamin D deficiency and Insulin Resistance Syndrome
are getting worse. It is intuitive to predict that we will continue to see increasingly
large numbers of cancer cases as time passes.

Can Vitamin D help in the treatment of cancer?

The answer is yes!

Vitamin D not only helps to prevent cancer, but it also helps in the treatment of
cancer. A researcher from Harvard Medical School published an excellent article (3) in
2005 citing the enormous evidence which strongly supports the anti-cancer role of
vitamin D supplementation in patients with colon cancer. In the case of breast
cancer, the role of vitamin D as an anticancer agent is promising. In the case of
prostate cancer, it appears that the more active form of vitamin D, known as 1,25,
(OH)2 vitamin D, provides anti-cancer activity.

Amazingly, many oncologists don't seriously consider the great anti-cancer benefits
of vitamin D. Some oncologists who stay updated on current knowledge may
casually recommend vitamin D to their patients. What I've seen in my patients is
usually something like this: If a patient brings up the subject of vitamin D, the
oncologist might say, "Yeah, it's a good idea. You should take vitamin D."
Unfortunately, that's often the end of the advice. Vitamin D level is not checked.
Dosage amount is not discussed. The patient usually ends up taking vitamin D on
their own at dose of 400 I.U. per day, which according to the bottle label, meets
100% of the daily recommended dose. When these patients come to see me for
some other reason, such as diabetes, I check their vitamin D level. In most cases,
their vitamin D level is low, despite being on the recommended dose of 400 I.U per
day.

So beware and take charge of your vitamin D status and supplementation!

References:
1. Garland CF, Garland FC, Gorham ED et al. The role of vitamin D in cancer prevention. Am J Pub
Health.2006;96(2):252-26.
2. Tretli S, Hernes E, Berg JP, et al. Association Between serum 25(OH)D and death from prostate
cancer. Br J Cancer.2009;100(3):450-454.
3. Giovannucci E. The epidemiology of vitamin D and cancer incidence and mortality: a review( United
States). Cancer Causes Control.2005;16(2):83-95.

About The Author

Sarfraz Zaidi, MD

Sarfraz Zaidi, MD, FACP, FACE is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at UCLA.
Dr. Zaidi is a leading expert on Vitamin D, Diabetes and Thyroid. He frequently
lectures other physicians as well as the public. He has published numerous articles in
medical journals. Dr. Zaidi is also director of the Jamila Diabetes and Endocrine
Medical Center in Thousand Oaks, California, where he treats patients on a daily
basis. Dr. Zaidi is also the author of the popular Diabetes book, Take Charge of Your
Diabetes, and the newly released book, Power of Vitamin D, both of which are
available at .

Dermatologists have successfully
hammered one thought into all of us:
sun exposure may cause skin cancer,
so wear sunscreen while you're out in
the sun. What dermatologists don't
tell us is that the vitamin D we get
from sunshine can also prevent
serious cancers such as breast,
colon, pancreatic and prostate
cancers.

Mounting scientific evidence shows a
strong link between vitamin D
deficiency and cancer. Wouldn't it be
wonderful if we could prevent cancer
by optimizing vitamin D level in the

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The content on
this website is for educational purposes only. Please consult with your physician before using natural
remedies and before making any drastic changes to your diet or exercise program.