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Vitamin D for Prevention and Treatment of Colorectal Cancer: What is the Evidence?

  • Adjuvant Therapy for Colon Cancers (AB Benson III and A de Gramont, Section Editors)
  • Published:
Current Colorectal Cancer Reports

Abstract

Vitamin D insufficiency is highly prevalent in the U.S., particularly among colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. These low levels of vitamin D are concerning given increasing evidence that vitamin D may have health benefits beyond skeletal outcomes. Prospective observational studies suggest that higher vitamin D levels are associated with lower risk of incident CRC and improved survival for patients with established CRC, and randomized clinical trials are urgently needed to establish causality. Moreover, there remains a great need to improve prognosis for patients with CRC, and investigating vitamin D as a potential therapy is an attractive option in regards to safety and cost, particularly in this era of expensive and often toxic anti-neoplastic agents. In this review the evidence regarding the activity of vitamin D in CRC will be summarized, spanning preclinical, epidemiological, and clinical studies, and future research directions will be discussed.

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Conflict of Interest

Kimmie Ng has received compensation from Genentech, Inc. for serving on an advisory board, and has received research funding from Genentech and Pharmavite, LLC.

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This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by the author.

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  1. Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 450 Brookline Avenue, Boston, MA, 02215, USA

    Kimmie Ng

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Ng, K. Vitamin D for Prevention and Treatment of Colorectal Cancer: What is the Evidence?. Curr Colorectal Cancer Rep 10, 339–345 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11888-014-0238-1

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