Purpose of review: Clinical evidence suggesting the beneficial effects of vitamin D on survival of patients with cancer has been accumulating. Recent articles were thoroughly reviewed to determine if there is enough evidence to conclude that vitamin D supplementation improves survival of patients with cancer.
Recent findings: Meta-analyses of observational studies showed that higher blood 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels in patients with cancer at a variety of sites were associated with lower cancer-specific and overall mortalities. Moreover, meta-analyses of randomized clinical trials (RCTs) also suggested that vitamin D supplementation improved the survival of patients with cancer. However, each RCT used in these meta-analyses, as well as very recent RCTs, e.g., the SUNSHINE and the AMATERASU trial, did not show statistical significance in the primary results. For now, compelling evidence that vitamin D supplementation effectively improves survival of patients with cancer is lacking. Thus, confirmatory RCTs are still obligatory for the future.
Keywords: 25-hydroxyvitamin D; Meta-analysis; Mortality; Prognosis; Relapse-free survival; Vitamin D3.