Page 14 - IJCS Journal Vol.1.cdr

theijcs.com The IJCS / Vol 1 / Issue 1

Vitamin D: Role in Cancer Prevention and Treatment

1
Dr Pallavi Mahajan , Dr Deepak Abrol 2
1. Department of Biochemistry, Government Medical College, Jammu
2. Department of Radiotherapy, Government Medical College, Jammu

Vitamin D, traditionally known as an essential nutrient, is a precursor of a potent steroid hormone that regulates a

broad spectrum of physiological processes. In addition to its classical roles in bone metabolism, epidemiological,
preclinical, and cellular research during the last decades, it revealed that vitamin D may play a key role in the
prevention and treatment of many extra-skeletal diseases such as cancer. However, accumulating data suggest that

the metabolism and functions of vitamin D are dysregulated in many types of cancer, conferring resistance to the anti-
tumorigenic effects of vitamin D and thereby contributing to the development and progression of cancer. Thus,
understanding dysregulated vitamin D metabolism and function in cancer will be critical for the development of

promising new strategies for successful vitamin D-based cancer therapy. The hormone exerts its effects through the
vitamin D receptor (VDR), a member of the nuclear receptor superfamily. VDR is present not only in cells and tissues
involved in calcium regulation but also a wide variety of other cells including malignant cells. Both prospective and

retrospective studies help support the concept that it is vitamin D deficiency that is the driving force for increased risk of
common cancers in people living at higher latitudes. Most tissues and cells not only have a vitamin D receptor, but also
have the ability to make 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D. It has been suggested that increasing vitamin D intake or sun

exposure increases circulating concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D, which in turn, is metabolized to 1,25-
dihydroxyvitamin D3 in prostate, colon, breast, etc. The local cellular production of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D acts in an
autocrine fashion to regulate cell growth and decrease the risk of the cells becoming malignant. Therefore,

measurement of 25-hydroxyvitamin D is important not only to monitor vitamin D status for bone health, but also for
cancer prevention.
Keywords: Vitamin D, Cancer, Prevention, Treatment.

Corresponding Author
Dr. Pallavi Mahajan
Department of Biochemistry,
Government Medical College, Jammu

The Integrated Indian Journal of Cancer Sciences