A recent study from Northwestern Medicine found a strong link between low levels of vitamin D and aggressive prostate cancer.
It showed deficient vitamin D blood levels in men could predict aggressive prostate cancer identified at the time of surgery.
The finding is important because it can offer guidance to men and their doctors who may be considering active surveillance, in which they monitor cancer rather than remove the prostate.
Previous studies showing a link between vitamin D levels and aggressive prostate cancer were based on blood drawn well before treatment.
The current study provides a more direct correlation because it measured D levels within a couple of months before the tumor was visually identified as aggressive during surgery to remove the prostate.
Aggressive prostate cancer is defined by whether cancer has migrated outside of the prostate and by a high Gleason score.
A low Gleason score means the cancer tissue is similar to normal prostate tissue and less likely to spread; a high one means the cancer tissue is very different from normal and more likely to spread.
The study was part of a larger ongoing study of 1,760 men in the Chicago area examining vitamin D and prostate cancer.
In the study, the team examined 190 men, average age of 64, who underwent a radical prostatectomy to remove their prostate from 2009 to 2014.
In that group, 87 men had aggressive prostate cancer. Those with aggressive cancer had a median level of 22.7 nanograms per milliliter of vitamin D, much below the normal level of more than 30 nanograms/milliliter.
The team says the average D level in Chicago during the winter is about 25 nanograms/milliliter. Most people in Chicago should be on D supplements, particularly during the winter months.
If you care about prostate cancer, please read studies about symptoms, tests, and treatments for prostate cancer, and the daily beverage that may lower prostate cancer risk.
For more information about prostate cancer, please see recent studies about the stuff in the body that can protect against prostate cancer, fatty liver disease, diabetes, and results showing scientists develop new drugs for treating aggressive prostate cancer.
The study was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology and conducted by Dr. Adam Murphy et al.
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