Vitamin D has proven to aid in the treatment of many health conditions. However, researchers are driven to uncover if this vitamin is beneficial in treating cancer.

At a national conference researchers debated over whether or not plain vitamin D worked more effectively than a potentially profitable form of vitamin D, specifically designed to treat cancer.

Some questions researchers hoped to find answers to included:

• Should patients take supplemental vitamin D in addition to the standard cancer treatment?
• Should patients be treated for vitamin D deficiency?

However, in the midst of these questions, the discussion took a turn and boiled down to one main focal point: calcitriol.

Calcitriol, the most potent steroid hormone in the human body, is produced in large amounts in the tissues of vitamin D-filled individuals. However, in patients with cancer, vitamin D is in low supply. It is for this reason that some researchers proposed to develop an analogues form of this vitamin to fill up those patients' tanks.

For these reasons, most believe vitamin D should without a doubt be given to cancer patients, in addition to the standard cancer treatment. This theory here is that the vitamin D will significantly increase tissue levels of calcitriol, which in turn has outstanding anticancer properties.

A downfall to this theory is that intravenous calcitriol and its analogues cause hypocalcaemia, or high blood calcium. Plain vitamin D does not have this problem.

Reports have shown that plain vitamin D helps with the following types of cancer:

• Colon
• Prostate
• Pancreatic
• Breast, ovarian and cervical

The studies concluded that vitamin D analogues may help certain types of cancer, but it does not provide a cure, nor it will not treat vitamin D deficiency. Researchers agreed that the best route to fighting cancer is to have a sufficient intake of natural vitamin D to create more calcitriol.

In addition, plain vitamin D may also help prevent normal cells from turning cancerous. Vitamin D nutrition may also help common health-conditions linked to cancer such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, chronic pain and osteoporosis.

Medical News Today October 11, 2004

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

It has long been known that vitamin D protects against bone loss, but it clearly has other functions as this article points out. Calcitriol is the activated form of vitamin D that has two hydroxyl groups to it that are added by your liver and your kidney. Calcitriol has been shown to induce cell differentiation and to control cell proliferation -- in simpler terms it protects against cancer. People with a low vitamin D level, whether because they have little sun exposure or because they have extensive pigmentation that limits sun-caused vitamin D synthesis in the skin, are less able to make calcitriol (activated vitamin D) in an amount sufficient to exert the controls over cell proliferation that are needed to reduce cancer. I've been saying for years now, vitamin D is an extremely important nutrient and you must optimize your levels if you want to improve your health. Unfortunately, many Americans do not get enough vitamin D, largely because of experts' recommendations to avoid all sun exposure. That is why it is essential to understand that in order to know how much vitamin D you should be taking, you should get your blood level checked. This time of year is when most of us in the United States need to be very diligent about keeping our vitamin D levels within optimal levels. I recommend that most take a high-quality cod liver oil, which is an excellent source of vitamin D, regularly from fall until early spring. If you use beneficial products like these without doing blood tests for vitamin D levels, you should keep the dose at one to two teaspoons per day to prevent overdosing. If you want to learn more about the healing properties of the most natural and underappreciated source I know of -- the sun -- you'll want to read The Healing Sun by Dr. Richard Hobday. If you have been brainwashed by conventional medical wisdom into fearing the sun, this book will help you see the light about the value of proper sun exposure. And, as most of you know by now, I am especially fond of any natural therapies that are inexpensive and address the underlying causes of disease. Well, it is hard to get more basic than sunshine! Related Articles: Valuable Insights Into the Importance of Vitamin D and Sun Breakthrough Updates You Need to Know on Vitamin D Vitamin D May Prevent Skin Cancer Vitamin D Lowers Inflammation How Much Vitamin D is Too Much? Take This Vitamin D Quiz to Find Out!