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A study has found a possible link between vitamin D and a breakthrough immune boost in the fight against cancer.
A study in mice found that the vitamin promotes the growth of a type of intestinal bacteria, giving the animals better immunity against disease.
Researchers found that mice fed a diet rich in vitamin D had improved immune resistance to experimentally transplanted cancers and improved response to immunotherapy treatment.
Researchers were surprised to discover that vitamin D acts on certain cells in the intestine, resulting in an increase in the amount of a bacterium called Bacteroides fragilis.
According to the results, the tumors did not grow as much, suggesting that the microorganisms gave the mice better immunity against cancer.
“This is a significant breakthrough in this study,” said lead author Caetano Reis e Sousa, director of the Immunobiology Laboratory at the Francis Crick Institute. Improves immunity against cancer.
“While this may one day be important for human cancer treatment, we do not know how and why vitamin D mediates these effects through the microbiome.
“More research is needed before we can conclusively say that correcting vitamin D deficiency is effective in preventing or treating cancer.”
To test whether this bacterium alone could confer better cancer immunity, they gave it to mice eating a normal diet.
These mice were also better able to resist tumor growth, but not when fed a vitamin D-deficient diet.
Although there is no conclusive evidence, previous research suggests a link between vitamin D deficiency and cancer risk in humans.
To investigate this, researchers looked at a data set from 1.5 million people in Denmark and found a link between low vitamin D levels and increased cancer risk.
A separate analysis of cancer patient groups also suggested that people with higher vitamin D levels were more likely to respond well to immune-based cancer treatments.
Bacteroides fragilis is also present in the human microbiome, but further research is needed to establish whether vitamin D helps confer immune resistance to cancer through the same mechanism.
Evangelos Giampazourias, former postdoctoral fellow at Crick University and currently group leader of the Cancer Immune Surveillance Group at Cancer Research UK’s Manchester Research Institute, said: .
“Answering this could reveal new ways in which the microbiome influences the immune system, offering exciting possibilities in cancer prevention and treatment.”
Dr Nisharnthi Duggan, Research Information Manager at Cancer Research UK, said: “We know that vitamin D deficiency can cause health problems, but there is not enough evidence linking vitamin D levels to cancer risk.
“This early-stage study in mice, combined with analysis of Danish population data, aims to address gaps in the evidence. suggests a possible association, but further research is needed to confirm this.
‘Exposure to a little sunlight can help our bodies produce vitamin D, but we don’t need sunbathing to accelerate this process. A short period of time in the sun can produce enough vitamin D.
“Vitamin D can also be obtained through diet and supplements. We know that staying safe in the sun can reduce the risk of cancer, so be sure to seek shade and cover up when the sun is shining. , please wear sunscreen.”
This research science The journal received funding from Cancer Research UK, the UK Medical Research Council, the Wellcome Trust and others.
