Liver cancer remains one of the most virulent forms of the disease. According to the National Cancer Institute's cancer statistics review, of the 24,120 Americans diagnosed with liver cancer in 2010, 18,910 will die -- this equates to a mortality rate greater than 75 percent. Recent studies show a positive role for vitamin D in the prevention and treatment of cancer. If you have liver cancer or are at risk of developing it, you may benefit from Vitamin D supplementation. Speak to your doctor or health care provider about vitamin D for liver cancer.
Risk Factors
Liver cancer typically develops in organs damaged by cirrhosis, a buildup of scar tissue in the liver, according to Pub Med Health. Common causes of cirrhosis include excessive alcohol intake, hepatitis B or C infection and steatohepatitis, which is inflammation of the liver due to alcoholic or nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Other risk factors for liver cancer include obesity and diabetes, according to the National Cancer Institute.
Cell Proliferation
Cell proliferation means rapid cell division; this is a normal action under certain bodily functions such as wound healing and growth. However, unchecked cell proliferation can lead to cancer, according to the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University. Both normal cells and cancer cells house a receptor for vitamin D, and vitamin D possesses a property that arrests cell proliferation, according to a March 2004 review published in the "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition." This means that cancer cells respond to vitamin D by decreasing their activity.
Research
An October 2010 study conducted by researchers from the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology and published in the "Journal of Immunology" studied a protein called vitamin D (3) upregulated protein 1 (VDUP1). The researchers discovered that when liver cancer cells were treated with an abundance of VDUP1, both the inflammatory response and the cancer cell activity decreased. This study also supports a role for vitamin D in the treatment of liver cancer.
Medication
A chemically altered version of vitamin D demonstrates potential as a preventive drug for cancers, such as liver cancer, according to researchers from Johns Hopkins University. In a 2000 study on animals, the researchers found that a vitamin D derivative drug decreased the number of tumors by 63 percent. Human trials are necessary before the drug becomes available on the market; however, preliminary research is encouraging. The study authors presented their findings at the 220th national meeting of the American Chemical Society in Washington.
References
- National Cancer Institute; Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results; SEER Stat Fact Sheets: Liver and Intrahepatic Bile Duct; November 2010
- National Cancer Institute; What You Need to Know About Liver Cancer; Risk Factors; April 2009
- Pub Med Health; Hepatocellular Carcinoma; August 2009
- Oregon State University; Linus Pauling Institute; Micronutrient Information Center; Vitamin D; Jane Higdon, Ph.D.. et al.; June 2011
- "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition"; Vitamin D: Importance in the Prevention of Cancers, Type 1 Diabetes, Heart Disease, and Osteoporosis; Michael F. Holick; March 2004
- "Journal of Immunology"; Vitamin D3 Upregulated Protein 1 Suppresses TNF-α-Induced NF-κB Activation in Hepatocarcinogenesis; H.J. Kwon, et al,; October 2010
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