New research suggests that vitamin D can strengthen cancer immunity by altering gut bacteria.
The study, conducted on mice, found that the vitamin promoted the growth of a type of intestinal bacteria, boosting the animals’ immunity against disease.
Scientists observed that mice fed a diet rich in vitamin D showed stronger immune resistance to transplanted cancers and responded better to immunotherapy treatment. You can buy Vitamin D from Boots and Amazon for around 2p each.
The research team was intrigued by the discovery that vitamin D affects certain cells in the intestine, leading to an increase in bacteria known as Bacteroides fragilis. The results showed less tumor growth in these conditions, suggesting that the microbes strengthened the mice’s immunity to cancer.
“What we showed here was surprising: vitamin D can modulate the gut microbiome to favor certain types of bacteria that give mice better immunity against cancer. “, said Caetano Reis e Sousa, senior author of the study and head of the Institute of Immunobiology. At the Francis Crick Institute.
“While this may one day be important for human cancer treatment, we do not know how and why vitamin D exerts this effect through the microbiome. More research is needed before we can conclusively say that improving cancer is effective.” Prevention or treatment? ”
To determine whether this bacterium alone could improve cancer immunity, the researchers administered Bacteroides fragilis to mice on a standard diet. The organisms developed an increased resistance to tumor growth, but this resistance disappeared when fed a vitamin D-deficient diet.
Although conclusive evidence has not yet been provided, previous research suggests a link between lack of sufficient vitamin D and increased cancer risk in humans.
To further investigate possible links, researchers evaluated data from 1.5 million Danes. This study found a link between low vitamin D levels and increased cancer risk.
Another review that analyzed groups of cancer patients showed that those with higher levels of vitamin D responded better to immune-based cancer treatments.
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Bacteroides fragilis is also present in the human microbiome. Nevertheless, additional studies are needed to confirm whether vitamin D provides some form of immune resistance to cancer via the same pathway.
“The key question we are currently trying to answer is how exactly vitamin D supports a ‘good’ microbiome,” says Dr. Evangelos Giampazourias, head of the Cancer Immunology Surveillance Group at the Manchester Institute in the UK, commented.
“Answering this could reveal new ways in which the microbiome influences the immune system, offering exciting possibilities in cancer prevention and treatment.”
Dr Nishanti Duggan, research information manager at Cancer Research UK, said: ‘We know that vitamin D deficiency can cause health problems, but there is insufficient evidence to link vitamin D levels to cancer risk. There is no evidence.
“This early-stage study in mice, combined with analysis of Danish population data, aims to address gaps in the evidence. This suggests that there may be a link, but further research is needed to confirm this.”
Regarding getting vitamin D from the sun, Dr. Duggan says, “A little bit of sunlight exposure can help our bodies produce vitamin D, but we don’t need sun exposure to speed up this process.” There’s no need to.
“Most people in the UK can produce enough vitamin D with just a short amount of time in the summer sun. Vitamin D can also be obtained through diet and supplements.”
Dr. Duggan emphasized the importance of sun safety, saying, “We know that staying safe in the sun can reduce your risk of cancer, so be sure to seek shade when the sun is shining. “Make sure to cover up and wear sunscreen,” he advised.
The research was published in the journal Science and was supported by Cancer Research UK, Medical Research Council UK and the Wellcome Trust, among others.
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