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Research Shows Vitamin D Enhances Cancer Treatment Outcomes

Author:

Morgan Chamberlain

August 06, 2024

Former mbg Supplement Editor

By Morgan Chamberlain

Former mbg Supplement Editor

Morgan Chamberlain is mindbodygreen's former supplement editor. She graduated from Syracuse University with a Bachelor of Science degree in magazine journalism and a minor in nutrition.

Someone with curly hair in the sun and sunglasses

Image by Sofie Delauw / Stocky

August 06, 2024

While any single vitamin can't cure all types of ailments and diseases, there's one nutrient that has been shown to deliver incredible support for immune function time and time again: vitamin D.

In a study published by Cancer (a peer-reviewed journal from the American Cancer Society), researchers discovered that sufficient vitamin D levels helped skin cancer patients enhance the results of their immunotherapy treatment—and, in some cases, even extend their life span.

How vitamin D status affects cancer treatment

Researchers analyzed vitamin D status of 200 advanced melanoma patients receiving anti-PD-1 immunotherapy (a type of drug that supports the body's immune system in slowing, stopping, and killing cancer cells) as their first-line treatment.

Participants' serum vitamin D levels were measured before receiving immunotherapy and every 12 weeks during treatment. Here's what the study found.

Response rate (the percentage of patients that saw their cancer shrink or disappear during treatment) was:

36% in the group with low vitamin D levels throughout the study
56% in the group that had healthy vitamin D status at baseline or achieved healthy levels during treatment

Progression-free survival (the length of time after treatment initiation that a patient's cancer did not progress) was:

5.75 months for the group with low vitamin D status
11.25 months for the group that achieved healthy vitamin D levels before or during treatment

Overall survival was:

27 months for the group with low vitamin D levels
31.5 months for the group that reached healthy vitamin D levels before or during treatment

Researchers concluded that healthy vitamin D levels should be maintained in advanced melanoma patients that are undergoing anti-PD-1 immunotherapy in order to optimize treatment outcomes.

The takeaway

As demonstrated by this study, vitamin D is a vital nutrient for optimizing immune health and function.

Since food sources and sunlight aren't sufficient sources of vitamin D for the majority of people (you read more about why that is here), the most efficient and effective way to achieve and sustain healthy vitamin D status is with daily vitamin D supplementation.

That said, not all vitamin D supplements are created equal. For a supplement that optimizes form, dosage, and absorption of vitamin D, you can check out mindbodygreen's favorite vitamin D supplements here.