New Research Shows Vitamin D Reduces Liver Cancer Risk

Vitamin D and Cancer Cancer of the liver affects the most vital organ in the body. The liver is a very crucial organ as it enables the bodily processes to be accomplished. Being the second largest body organ after the skin weighing about 3 pounds, it plays such important bodily processes such as digestion, excretion, metabolism, storage, immunity and production.

The liver plays an important role in monitoring the amount of glucose that is in circulation. The carbohydrates we eat get broken down into glucose which is vital source of energy for the cells. The blood that enters the liver is always very high in glucose content which has to be put in control. The liver by the help of its hepatocytes absorbs the excess glucose and stores it in the form of glycogen. It has the ability of storing large quantities of glucose and releasing it in good quantities to provide energy. This helps protect the body from dangerously containing high levels of glucose in circulation. As most of you know by now, cancerous cells rely heavily on glucose for their energy supply, they are more responsive to the glucose in the bloods stream than the healthy cells so incase the glucose content is high in the blood, a conducive environment is created for the survival of the cancer cells but a healthy liver helps in controlling the glucose circulation in the blood.

This therefore means that when a liver is not in good health then the rest of the body is unhealthy. Without the ability to control the amount of glucose in circulation by the liver you will face higher health risks of cancer as well as other diseases such as diabetes.

For this reason doctors have been doing research on how to curb liver cancer. Recent researchers have pointed out that vitamin D plays an important role in protecting the liver against cancer. Currently, liver cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma among other cancer types are the sixth most common cancer, however they are the third highest cause of cancer deaths globally.

A research study that was done by European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) group, coordinated by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC-WHO, Lyon, France), Imperial College London (ICL, UK), and Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University found out that vitamin D reduced the risk of an individual developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) which is the most famous form of liver cancer. The finding of this study was published as the June 6, 2014 edition of Hepatology.

According to medical research reports, some of the most common risk factors associated with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are exposure to mycotoxins, chronic hepatitis B (HBV) or hepatitis C (HCV) infection, overweight (obesity), type 2 diabetes and irresponsible lifestyle such as tobacco smoking, drinking alcohol and drug abuse.

Veronika Fedirko, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health and Mazda Jenab, PhD, scientist at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC-WHO), with their teams looked into relations between pre-diagnostic blood vitamin D concentration and HCC.

“Despite evidence that vitamin D supports liver health, the association between vitamin D levels and HCC had not been fully examined,” Fedirko explained. Fedirko is the lead author of the study. “Our study is the largest in Western populations to investigate levels of vitamin D and its impact on liver cancer risk.”

“Our results suggest a role for vitamin D in HCC etiology, but it remains to be determined whether the association is causal,” said Jenab who was part of the research study.

This study involved huge number of participants from the Western Europe, the participants were more than 520,000 who availed data on lifestyle patterns. The study was sponsored by French National Cancer Institute (INCA) but relied on data availed by the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) group. The study involved 138 subjects that developed HCC between 1992 and 2010, after being recruited into the group. Each case was compared to corresponding control by age, sex, study center, date and time of blood collection and fasting status. Blood vitamin D levels were measured by state-of-the-art liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry.

The study findings showed that the higher the level of vitamin D in the body the lesser the risk of an individual developing hepatocellular carcinoma. The study found out higher levels of Vitamin D reduces your chances to liver cancer by 49 percent.

“Given the rising incidence of liver cancer in developed countries and the potential of vitamin D to protect against HCC, further investigation in other populations is warranted,” asserts Fedirko.

Vitamin D and Cancer “There is steadily growing scientific evidence that low circulating vitamin D concentration is a marker of increased risk for various cancers, particularly colorectal cancer, but public health advocacy for vitamin D supplementation for cancer prevention must be based on more evidence. Better understanding of HCC etiology can lead to effective prevention strategies for this disease that is often diagnosed in late stages with few treatment options,” concludes Jenab.

The liver plays an important role in the body as it enables most of the physiological processes in the body to be accomplished. It is also responsible for strengthening immune system. However when infected by HCC it fails to perform leading to many health complications. Supplementing vitamin D may help you stay free from HCC. You need reliable information that can help you stay cancer free. Dr. Dalal Akoury (MD) avails helpful information on cancer and other diseases contact her and learn how better you can take care of your health.