Vitamin D could curb risk of colon cancer

Vitamin D, which helps the human organism to absorb fats, could also help reduce the risk of colon cancer, according to a study appearing today in the journal `Science`.
Researchers set out to find an explanation of why people who eat a lot of fat are at a greater risk of developing colon cancer. "The rate of colorectal cancer is much higher in the US -- where a high-fat diet is common -- than in Japan, where people don`t eat a lot of fat and colorectal cancer is almost nonexistent. But no one has understood why that is," said pharmacology professor David Mangelsdorf, one of the researchers.

The study shows that one part of the answer is a human`s inability to handle large quantities of lithocholic acid, which the body produces to absorb cholesterol.

According to researchers, Vitamin D helps detoxify lithocholic acid produced during digestion.

"Lithocholic acid is highly toxic, and it builds up in a high-fat diet. We don`t know how it causes cancer, but it is known to cause cancer in mice, and people with colon cancer have high concentrations of it," said Mangelsdorf, of the University of Texas at Dallas.

The scientists suggested that development of a medication that acts like Vitamin D could help prevent colon cancer by helping eliminate lithocholic acid.

But taking too much Vitamin D or a drug that resembles it has an undesirable side effect which must be avoided, raising the level of calcium in the blood to dangerous levels, they warned.
Bureau Report