Vitamin D, calcium can control colon cancer
Washington,
Apr
14:
A
new
study
from
Emory
University
has
revealed
that
Vitamin
D
and
calcium
supplements
may
influence
cell
death
in
colon.
Previous
studies
had
shown
that
calcium
and
vitamin
D
tend
to
reduce
colon
cancer
risk.
The
study
conducted
over
92
patients
revealed
that
supplementing
diet
with
calcium
and
vitamin
D
appeared
to
boost
the
levels
of
a
protein
called
Bax
that
controlled
programmed
cell
death
in
the
colon.
Lead researcher Veronika Fedirko said that more Bax might be pushing pre-cancerous cells into programmed cell death. "We were pleased that the effects of calcium and vitamin D were visible enough in this small study to be significant and reportable," she said. "We will have to fully evaluate each marker's strength as we accumulate more data," she added. Another study conducted by Dr Roberd Bostick, MPH, professor of epidemiology at Emory's Rollins School of Public Health, showed that high levels of calcium and vitamin D together increased the levels of E-cadherin, a protein that moderated colon cells' movement and proliferation. The study was conducted over 200-patients.
The third abstract on the same case-control study (5504) showed that high levels of iron in the diet were associated with low levels of APC, a protein whose absence in colon cancer cells leads to their runaway growth.
"The studies of colorectal biopsy samples are part of a larger effort to identify a portfolio of measurements that together can gauge someone's risk of getting colon cancer," said Bostick.
The findings on biological markers that could influence colon cancer risk would be presented in three abstracts at the American Association for Cancer Research meeting in San Diego.
ANI