18 Cancers might be fought by Vitamin D

Created March 2025

Mapping the landscape of vitamin D in cancer studies: a systematic global investigation

Journal of Diabetes & Metabolic Disorders Volume 24, article number 78, (2025)

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40200-025-01594-9 PDF is behind $40 paywall

Ali Faryabi, Mohammad Amin Salari, Alaleh Dalvand, Hassan Akbarniakhaky, Ghazal Mohammadi, Hossein Aazami, Farideh Razi & Hojat Dehghanbanadaki

Purpose

This comprehensive study examines the multifaceted relationship between vitamin D and cancer, synthesizing key scientific advancements and global research trends to guide future investigations and address critical gaps in the field.

Methods

Publications on vitamin D and cancer were retrieved from Scopus up to November 2024. English-language original and review articles were analyzed using Excel, VOSviewer, and Scimago Graphica, focusing on publication trends, citation impacts, and research themes.

Results

A total of 11,442 publications (80.01% original articles, 19.98% reviews; 51.24% open access) were analyzed. The United States of America led in publications (38.3%) and citations (56.2%), followed by China (7.7%) and the United Kingdom (7.2%) in output, and the United Kingdom (10.6%) and Germany (6.4%) in citations. Countries with the highest citations per document were Belgium (103.4), Slovenia (87.9), and Puerto Rico (76.6).

The most frequently studied cancers in relation to vitamin D were

  • breast,

  • colorectal,

  • prostate,

  • skin,

  • lung,

  • ovarian,

  • pancreatic,

  • gastric,

  • hepatocellular,

  • thyroid,

  • leukemia,

  • multiple myeloma,

  • bladder,

  • lymphoma,

  • osteosarcoma,

  • cervical,

  • endometrial, and

  • glioblastoma, respectively.

    Cluster analysis revealed key patterns related to vitamin D:

  • Calcitriol’s chemopreventive role in breast, prostate, and colorectal cancers,

  • dietary vitamin D for its involvement in ovarian cancer,

  • vitamin D for regulation of cancer-related hypercalcemia,

  • vitamin D deficiency links to inflammation-obesity-cancer risk,

  • VDR polymorphisms affecting outcomes in lung and colorectal cancers, and

  • vitamin D’s photoprotective effects on skin malignancies, and

  • vitamin D in ulcerative colitis-related cancer.

The most cited articles emphasized optimal vitamin D levels and cancer prevention.

Conclusion

This study highlights the extensive research on vitamin D and its complex links to cancer, emphasizing future prospects with a focus on precision medicine approaches, including targeted supplementation and genomic analyses, to better address individual variability in cancer prevention and treatment.

VitaminDWiki – Cancer category contains:

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VitaminDWiki – Cancer - After diagnosis category contains:

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Vitamin D Cancer trials often fail due to any of 5 reasons

  1. Gave too small of dose

  2. Gave same size dose to everyone

    •   more is needed by obese, dark skinned, elderly, poor health, poor gut, etc.

  3. Got most participants above 30 ng level of vitamin D

    •   but some Cancers, like Breast, are known to need >80 ng

  4. Trial lasted only months instead of years - Cancers take many years to develop

  5. Trial only measured blood levels - 6 genes restrict how much Vitamin D gets to the Cancer cells

  6. Trial only used Vitamin D monotherapy

    •   often need co-factors, such as Omega-3 or Magnesium to boost the reponse to Vitamin D

    •   while also fighting inflammation

Tags: Cancer