November 13, 2009 – Doctors combine vitamin D supplements with surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy to fight certain cancers, reports daily The Globe & Mail1.
In the United States, the Roswell Park Cancer Institute is one of the first North American institutions to use vitamin D in the treatment of breast cancer. According to recent data, the low blood level of vitamin D is associated with the recurrence of this type of cancer and a higher death rate.
Nearly 80% of breast cancer patients have insufficient or deficient vitamin D blood levels, say specialists at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute.
Exploratory stage
The use of vitamin D in the treatment of cancer is only at the exploratory stage, they explain, and mainly aims to assess its healing potential. In addition, they indicate that vitamin D supplementation presents little risk and strengthens the health of the bones of sick people. Blood samples are taken periodically to avoid overdoses.
In some cases, patients receive doses approaching 50,000 international units (IU) of vitamin D supplements per week, experts say.
Last year, Canadian oncologist DD Pamela Goodwin, from Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, published a study on the subject. Her work has shown a greater recurrence of the disease in women who have a low blood level of vitamin D. Also, their chances of survival are lower, concludes the researcher.
In recent years, much research has linked rising cancer rates in the Nordic countries to vitamin D deficiency. The Canadian Cancer Society now recommends increasing the dose to 1000 IU per day in the fall and winter.
Danny Raymond – HealthPassport.net
According to The Globe & Mail.
1. Mittelstaedt M., Doctors start to include vitamin D in fight against cancer, The Globe & Mail, November 5, 2009.