LYON, France—People with higher concentrations of vitamin D were less likely to develop colon cancer in a study of more than 520,000 subjects within the Prospective Investigation into Cancer Study (EPIC) (BMJ 2010;340:b5500).
Researchers examined the association between pre-diagnostic circulating vitamin D concentration, dietary intake of vitamin D and calcium, and the risk of colorectal cancer in men and women from 10 European countries. Within the study population, 1,248 participants developed colorectal cancer after enrolment into the cohort. Researchers matched the cancer cases to 1,248 controls. Circulating vitamin D concentration (25-hydroxy-vitamin-D, 25-(OH)D) was measured by enzyme immunoassay, while dietary and lifestyle data were obtained from questionnaires.
Subjects with the highest levels of 25-(OH)D (75.0-99.9 nmol/l) had a 40 percent lower risk of colorectal cancer than those with the lowest levels (less than 25.0 nmol/l) (P<0.001).
Subgroup analyses showed a strong association for colon, but not rectal cancer (P=0.048), and greater dietary intake of calcium was also associated with a lower colorectal cancer risk.