Key Vitamin Increases Cancer Survival
It’s true, immunotherapy drugs can improve your odds of surviving cancer.
Checkpoint inhibitors, in particular, are used to treat melanoma, bladder, liver, lung, and kidney cancers.
For some people, these drugs are extremely effective. Unfortunately, others only have a partial response, meaning their tumor doesn’t completely disappear.
Researchers wanted to uncover why these drugs are more effective for some folks than others.
And it could all come down to one critical vitamin.
For about 36 months, researchers followed over 3,000 cancer patients who were taking various checkpoint inhibitor drugs.
They evaluated seasonal factors—like viruses, allergens, and even UV exposure—to determine if they altered the effectiveness of the checkpoint inhibitors.
They also measured the patient’s vitamin D levels.
While the seasonal factors listed did NOT appear to affect overall survival, vitamin D levels were a different story.
(Although vitamin D levels ARE a seasonal factor.)
Vitamin-D-deficient people had a shorter overall survival rate, while vitamin D supplementation was associated with a longer overall survival rate.
This confirms another study published earlier this year, which found that colorectal patients with low vitamin D levels had a 47 percent increased risk of death and a 38 percent increased risk of disease progression.
And, of course, plenty of previous studies show that higher vitamin D levels lower the risk of developing cancer in the first place.
If you’re battling cancer, you want to give yourself the BEST fighting chance possible.
Boosting your vitamin D levels (with more sun exposure and supplements if needed) is an excellent place to start.
P.S. Two common vitamin deficiencies drive up cancer risk.
SOURCE:
Kennedy O, Ali N, Lee R. Seasonal patterns in immunotherapy outcomes. J Clin Oncol. 2024;42(suppl 16); abstr e14684.
