Vitamin D Reduces Progression of Low-Grade Prostate Cancer

Cancer is mainly associated with inflammation and Vitamin D has the capacity to fight inflammation. A new study has revealed that vitamin D consumption may lower or even reverse the progression of low-grade prostate cancer. Researchers measured the aggressiveness of tumor after a prostate biopsy on Gleason Grading System. Tumors with Gleason scores of 7 and above were considered aggressive and likely to spread whereas those with a score of 6 and below were considered less aggressive. Low-grade prostate cancer could be cured with surgery. To undergo prostatectomy, a person has to wait for 60 days from the time of his biopsy.

Bruce Hollis, scientist at the Medical University of South Carolina, and his research team studied 37 men undergoing elective prostatectomies. One group received 4,000 U of vitamin D per day while the placebo group did not receive vitamin D. After a period of 60 days, their prostate glands were removed and examined. Preliminary findings suggest that men who had received Vitamin D showed improvements whereas the other group either stayed the same or got worse, thus suggesting that Vitamin D had caused dramatic changes in the expression levels of many cell lipids and proteins.

The research will be presented at the 249th National Meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS).

Source-Medindia