[PHNUTR-L] Vitamin D inhibits progression of some prostate cancers

[Kathrynne Holden, MS, RD]

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Public release date: 8-Feb-2006
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-02/uorm-vdi020806.php

Contact: Michael Wentzel
michael_wentzel at urmc.rochester.edu
585-275-1309
University of Rochester Medical Center

Vitamin D inhibits progression of some prostate cancers

Vitamin D can inhibit the spread of prostate cancer cells by limiting 
the activity of two specific enzymes, University of Rochester Medical 
Center scientists report.

The finding means that vitamin D could provide beneficial treatment to 
prostate cancer patients with high levels of the enzymes, the scientists 
said.

"We wanted to know the targets of vitamin D so we would know which 
patients would respond better," said Yi-Fen Lee, Ph.D., an assistant 
professor of Urology at the Medical Center who led the research.

The journal Carcinogenesis published the findings by Lee and her fellow 
researchers in its January issue. The research was conducted in test 
tubes using human prostate cancer cells lines.

Research evidence increasingly has indicated that vitamin D suppresses 
the progression of cancer. Medical Center scientists discovered that 
vitamin D significantly limits the ability of prostate cancer cells to 
invade healthy cells by reducing the activity of two enzymes – proteases 
called matrix metalloproteinase and cathepsin. Vitamin D also increases 
the level of counterpart enzymes that inhibit matrix metalloproteinase 
and cathepsin, the Rochester scientists found.

Vitamin D, however, had little effect on plasminogen activators, which 
also are important in the spread of prostate cancer.

"Each individual is different so the therapy could be custom made for 
each person," Lee said.

The vitamin D used in the study is 1,25-hydroxylvitamin D3, the most 
potent and active form of vitamin D in the human body. But Lee and other 
scientists at the Medical Center's James P. Wilmot Cancer Center do not 
advise taking large amounts of vitamin D without medical supervision.

"This high dose has some side effects, including increasing blood 
calcium levels and causing kidney problems" said Edward M. Messing, 
M.D., chair of Urology at the Medical Center. "It should not be taken 
without prescription and a physician monitoring the side effects."

Lee is investigating whether there are medicines or other vitamins, such 
as vitamin E, that could enhance the anti-cancer effects of vitamin D 
without increasing toxicity.

"The best way to get vitamin D is to drink milk, get modest exposure to 
the sun, and take a vitamin pill to enrich the vitamin D, which might 
prevent cancer," Lee said.

In addition to Lee, authors of the Carcinogenesis article include 
Bo-Ying Bao, a University of Rochester graduate student, and Shauh-Der 
Yeh of the Department of Urology at Taipei Medical University.
###
The research was supported by grants from the U.S. Department of Defense 
and the New York Academy of Medicine Edwin Beer Research Fund.

An estimated 232,000 new cases of prostate cancer were diagnosed in the 
United States last year – more than any other cancer in men. About 
30,000 deaths occurred from prostate cancer in the United States last year.
-- 
Kathrynne Holden, MS, RD < fivestar at nutritionucanlivewith.com >
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