While a single vitamin can’t cure all types of ailments and diseases, there is one nutrient that has been proven time and time again to provide incredible support for immune function: Vitamin D.
In a new study published by Cancer (a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society), researchers have found that sufficient levels of vitamin D help skin cancer patients improve outcomes of immunotherapy treatment and, in some cases to prolong life span.
How vitamin D status affects cancer treatment
Researchers analyzed the vitamin D status of 200 advanced melanoma patients receiving anti-PD-1 immunotherapy (a type of drug that helps the body’s immune system slow, block and kill cancer cells) as a treatment for first line.
Participants’ serum vitamin D levels were measured before receiving immunotherapy and every 12 weeks during treatment. Here’s what the study found.
The response rate (the percentage of patients who saw their cancer shrink or disappear during treatment) was:
36% in the group with low vitamin D levels for the duration of the study
56% in the group who had healthy vitamin D status at baseline or achieved healthy levels during treatment.
Progression-free survival (the length of time after starting treatment that a patient’s cancer has not progressed) was:
5.75 months for the low vitamin D group
11.25 months for the group who achieved healthy vitamin D levels before or during treatment.
Overall survival was:
27 months for the low vitamin D group
31.5 months for the group that achieved healthy vitamin D levels before or during treatment
The researchers concluded that healthy vitamin D levels need to be maintained in advanced melanoma patients receiving anti-PD-1 immunotherapy to optimize treatment outcomes.
The result
As demonstrated by this study, vitamin D is a critical nutrient for optimizing health and immune function.
Since food sources and sunlight are not sufficient sources of vitamin D for most people (read more here), the most efficient and effective way to achieve and maintain healthy vitamin D status is daily vitamin D supplementation.