Vitamin D levels determine colorectal cancer risk

People with normal or high levels of vitamin D in their blood, especially women, have a lower risk of colorectal cancer than those with low levels of this vitamin, according to an international study published in the journal Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition.

Several Spanish research institutes and universities have collaborated in the study, including the Human Nutrition Unit of the University of Valencia and the Biomedical Research Institute of Malaga (IBIMA), both part of the CIBER de Fisiopatologı́a de la Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBEROBN).

To conduct the study, the authors used different epidemiological studies evaluating the association between vitamin D and colorectal cancer in populations worldwide.

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Half of the patients studied were from the United States, and one-third were European citizens, and “the duration of follow-up in the prospective cohort studies ranged from 4 to 20 years.”

In addition, numerous sub-analyses were performed to validate the conclusions obtained.

The research concludes that vitamin D may play a chemopreventive role in colorectal malignant transformation and/or colorectal cancer progression.

“This study lays the groundwork for future efforts to determine through other studies the possible mechanisms involved in the progression of colorectal cancer through vitamin D,” says the principal investigator of CIBEROBN and head of the Human Nutrition Unit of the URV, Jordi Salas-Salvadó.