Key points from article :
Taking regular Vitamin D supplements may reduce cancer deaths in the population by 15%.
Vitamin D induce anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and DNA damage repair mechanisms, which can thwart mutations that grow tumours.
The NHS advised adults and children over four to take a daily supplement of 10 mg vitamin D throughout the year.
Researchers looked at UK Biobank data from more than 400,000 people aged 40–69.
Over a period of nearly 13 years, close to 13,000 people died of cancer.
Vitamin D supplement users had 15% lower total cancer mortality and 25% lower lung cancer mortality.
Users with vitamin D deficiency had 42% increased mortality for stomach, 27% for bowel, 24% for lung, and 36% for prostate cancers.
Those with vitamin D insufficiency have 14% increased bowel cancer mortality and 19% increased lung cancer mortality.
Potential to reduce cancer mortality by vitamin D supplementation should be further explored in new research.
Jenna Macciochi, senior lecturer at the University of Sussex, cautioned that the Biobank data might not be diverse and representative of entire population in the UK.
Study by German Cancer Research Center, published in European Journal of Cancer.
