High-dose vitamin D: negative results from a randomized clinical trial

Data from a recently published, Canadian, clinical trial of high-dose vitamin D as a method to strengthen bones in healthy adults who do not have osteoporesis have had significant and unexpectedly negative results. … READ MORE …

No measurable benefit from supplements in the VITAL trial

Two sets of results from a major trial focused on the use of supplements to prevent cancer and heart disease are published today in the New England Journal of Medicine. … READ MORE …

Prostate cancer prevention and the VITAL study data

Two sets of data from the 5-year-long VITamin D and OmegA-3 TriaL (VITAL) were published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine. … READ MORE …

Are low serum levels of vitamin D a risk factor for aggressive forms of prostate cancer?

It has long between understood that there is an association between a man’s serum levels of vitamin D and his risk for prostate cancer in general and clinically significant prostate cancer in particular. … READ MORE …

Vitamin D as a treatment for low-risk prostate cancer? Not based on these data!

A presentation at a meeting of the American Chemical Society in Denver earlier this week suggested the possibility that men who took 4,000 IU of vitamin D every day for 60 days prior to a radical prostatectomy did better than similar men taking a placebo. … READ MORE …

GDF-15, vitamin D, and risk for prostate cancer

A new study by Lambert et al. in the journal Prostate proposes that some forms of chronic prostatic inflammation, driven by low levels of a molecule known as growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15), may lead to prostate cancer development. … READ MORE …

Denosumab therapy and risk for severe hypocalcemia

Denosumab — marketed as Xgeva and as Prolia — is associated with a rare but well-known risk for severe hypocalcemia (very low calcium in the blood stream). Denosumab, when give as Xgeva,  is specifically indicated for the prevention of skeletal-related events in patients with bone metastases from prostate and other forms of cancer. … READ MORE …

Do vitamin D and/or calcium prevent bone loss for men on ADT?

A newly published report has questioned the value of recommended doses of calcium and vitamin D supplements for men at risk for lower bone mineral density because of their use of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) for prostate cancer. … READ MORE …

Vitamin D supplements may increase prostate cancer risk (at least among Finnish smokers)

Proving the point that (at least in prostate cancer) if you look carefully enough you can always find a study that supports your particular point of view, a new report from researchers at the National Institutes of Health and partner organizations has now demonstrated that, “High blood levels of vitamin D may increase a man’s risk of prostate cancer.” … READ MORE …

Low vitamin D levels “prevalent” in early stage prostate cancer?

Vitamin D insufficiency is currently defined as a serum level 25-hydroxy vitamin D that is less than 75 nmol/l. (And there are many who think that a higher minimum level might be appropriate.) … READ MORE …

Vitamin D, cancer prevention, research data, and media releases

There is an interesting article just published in Anticancer Research that comes to the conclusion that, “Universal intake of up to 40,000 IU vitamin D per day is unlikely to result in vitamin D toxicity.” However, one needs to interpret the content of this article — and this conclusion — with some care. … READ MORE …

The vitamin D saga … another data analysis

Nearly a year ago now we reported data from one relatively large study that suggested there was no direct connection between intake of vitamin D (in its 25-hydroxy vitamin D formulation) and risk for prostate cancer. … READ MORE …

IOM panel changes recommendations for vitamin D

A new report from an independent panel of experts, coordinated by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), has recommended significant changes in the standard daily intake and the upper limits of daily intake of vitamin D. … READ MORE …

Vitamin D and prostate cancer — the saga continues

There is significant evidence that serum levels of vitamin D have impact on the overall health of people as they age, and there has been some (largely laboratory-based) evidence of a specific association between vitamin D levels and risk for prostate cancer. … READ MORE …

Vitamin D and prostate cancer: a strong set of recommendations

A new review makes some strong recommendations regarding the impact of serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D — also known as 25(OH)D — and its metabolites and the effects on risk for several forms of cancer (including aggressive forms of prostate cancer). … READ MORE …