Understanding the role that vitamin D plays in prostate cancer is important to help further our knowledge about why the disease develops. Until now there’s been mixed evidence and researchers have not known what role vitamin D plays. But this new review shows that higher or lower levels of vitamin D don?t mean men are more or less likely to develop the disease.
Vitamin D levels do not affect men's chances of developing prostate cancer, according to new research from the University of Bristol published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. In a detailed review, funded by Cancer Research UK, scientists looked at all the available evidence and found there was no link between the amount of vitamin D in men's blood and the risk of prostate cancer. The findings support a review by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) which found no evidence that lower levels of vitamin D increase the risk of prostate cancer. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer for men in the UK and researchers are hoping to find out more about what could increase or reduce the risk of developing the disease. In laboratory experiments vitamin D has been shown to help slow down cell division - one of the fundamental changes that can lead to cancer. This review was the largest and most up-to-date investigation of the worldwide evidence on the link between vitamin D and prostate cancer. Rebecca Gilbert of Bristol's School of Social and Community Medicine , who led the study, said: 'Understanding the role that vitamin D plays in prostate cancer is important to help further our knowledge about why the disease develops.
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