The study led by Kimmie Ng MD, MPH and Edward Giovannucci, MD, DSc of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute involved analyzing data from the Nurses’ Health Study II an ongoing study of 94,205 women 25-42 years old. It was published online July 6, 2021 in the journal Gastroenterology.
“Vitamin D has known activity against colorectal cancer in laboratory studies. Because vitamin D deficiency has been steadily increasing over the past few years, we wondered whether this could be contributing to the rising rates of colorectal cancer in young individuals,” said Ng in a press release.
He is director of the Young-Onset Colorectal Cancer Center at Dana-Farber. “We found that total vitamin D intake of 300 IU per day or more – roughly equivalent to three 8-oz. glasses of milk – was associated with an approximately 50 percent lower risk of developing young-onset colorectal cancer.”
The study found 111 cases of young-onset colorectal cancer occurring between 1991 to 2015. They also found 3,317 colorectal polyps. When they analyzed dietary surveys taken from the women over those years they found that higher total vitamin D intake was associated with significantly lower risk of colorectal cancer and also lower risk of polyps associated with cancer.
The association was stronger for dietary vitamin D, meaning intake of the vitamin principally from dairy products as opposed to vitamin D supplements.
The results mirror a June 2018 study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute that showed that higher levels of vitamin D than previously thought to be optimal, may be the key to protecting against colorectal cancer, in women, but may not have the same effect in men.
The researchers in the current study also said they didn’t find a significant association between total vitamin D intake and risk of colorectal cancer diagnosed after age 50, which was unexplained by the data. The study authors said overall the findings could be due to chance or to unknown factors that are not yet understood.
The scientists said further research in a larger sample is necessary to determine if the protective effect of vitamin D is actually stronger in young-onset colorectal cancer.
Source: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute press release
The study found 111 cases of young-onset colorectal cancer occurring between 1991 to 2015. They also found 3,317 colorectal polyps. When they analyzed dietary surveys taken from the women over those years they found that higher total vitamin D intake was associated with significantly lower risk of colorectal cancer and also lower risk of polyps associated with cancer.
The association was stronger for dietary vitamin D, meaning intake of the vitamin principally from dairy products as opposed to vitamin D supplements.
The results mirror a June 2018 study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute that showed that higher levels of vitamin D than previously thought to be optimal, may be the key to protecting against colorectal cancer, in women, but may not have the same effect in men.
The researchers in the current study also said they didn’t find a significant association between total vitamin D intake and risk of colorectal cancer diagnosed after age 50, which was unexplained by the data. The study authors said overall the findings could be due to chance or to unknown factors that are not yet understood.
The scientists said further research in a larger sample is necessary to determine if the protective effect of vitamin D is actually stronger in young-onset colorectal cancer.
Source: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute press release
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