Vitamin D for Breast Cancer Prevention and Recurrence

This is a guest post by David Novak who writes for Healthline.com

There’s new thinking in the medicine world as it relates to the role of vitamin D in our diets.  Turns out this essential vitamin is more paramount to good health than before suspected, especially for breast cancer. Historically, Vitamin D has only been thought to be a nutrient needed for children, specifically to prevent rickets.  But not so.  Adults need vitamin D as much, if not more, than children do for several reasons.

Optimal levels of vitamin D promote the creation and functioning of healthy cells throughout the body. Additionally, vitamin D is significant in boosting the immune system, preventing certain cancers, (like colorectal, prostate, ovarian and breast), preventing heart disease and protecting the bones. But mostly, vitamin D is the superior nutrient needed to prevent breast cancer.

New studies suggest that thousands of new cases of breast cancer in the U.S., (to the tune of nearly 60,000 cases), could be prevented every year if more women had optimal vitamin D levels. In fact, women with optimal levels of vitamin D have half the risk of developing breast cancer than those with low levels of the vitamin.  Globally, the number is exponentially larger.

Breast Tissue and Vitamin D

Healthy mature breast cells express multiple vitamin D receptors inside the cell.  This receptor will bind to vitamin D3, which is circulating in the blood, and vitamin D promotes the creation and use of a special enzyme called 1-hydroxylase to convert it to its active form. Once vitamin D is in the active form, it modulates the cell’s genome in several beneficial ways.

First off, Vitamin D regulates metabolic genes in the breast cells. This is an important because cancer cells go through a metabolic shift, which means it increases the metabolism of the cell in order to keep up with the energy needs for proliferation.  Vitamin D regulates this shift by decreasing the amino acid transporters on the surface of the cell.

Additionally, enzymes that control energy metabolism such as glutamine synthesis are also down regulated, which suggests that vitamin D may help limit the cancerous cell’s ability to proliferate.  Vitamin D also down-regulates the enzyme aromatase, which is critical for estrogen synthesis in the breast tissue.  Aromatase is a key factor in developing the dominant type of breast cancer.

Immune Boosting and Vitamin D

Vitamin D is also extremely helpful with the immune system. Certain immune signaling molecules in the breast, called cytokines, are improved with vitamin D, which helps reduce any inflammatory risk within the breast.  Vitamin D also improves the secretion of IL15, which prompts the proliferation of natural killer T cells.  These T cells are immune cells that scan the breast tissues for abnormal cells and if found, they will be programmed for cell death.

Also with more vitamin D comes a reduction in the inflammatory marker IL2, which stimulates the immune system within the breast tissue and protects the tissue from abnormal or cancerous cells. Finally, when normal cells receive vitamin D, the growth of the cell slows, suggesting that the vitamin may help keep mature cancer cells from growing and proliferating, a risk factor for cancer. Finally, vitamin D also protects against DNA damage.  Adequate amounts of vitamin D in our cells protect them from cellular damage and from outside toxins, particularly in the breast tissue.

Best Sources

Whether you know it or not, the sun is actually the best source of vitamin D. The sun’s UVB rays enable your body to manufacture vitamin D in the fat layer under the skin, as long as you don’t use sunscreen. The body can make enough vitamin D from sun exposure to last the entire year, and it will never create toxic levels, regardless of how long you expose your skin.

Although you might have been taught to fear the sun, sunbathing in moderation is actually great for the body. This may explain why the incidence of breast cancer is higher in northern latitudes than at the equator.

Supplements

Vitamin D levels can easily be measured by a simple blood test. A few years ago, 20-100 ng/ml was considered normal. More recently, this range was raised to 32–100 ng/ml due to the new research conducted that discovered the fact that we need more vitamin D for optimal health. So it’s now suggested to ask your doctor what your actual vitamin D levels are, and what you can do to optimize them. Too often women are told that their levels are normal, which is not the same as optimal levels.

Be sure and check your vitamin D levels regularly and keep them in the optimal range. This is easily done by supplementing with about 2,000 IUs of vitamin D3 per day. Initially, you may need to take 5,000 IUs per day, but after establishing a healthy level, you can go with 2,000 IUs per day.  It’s tough to get all you need from food. Some healthy fish provides 300 to 700 IUs, but milk only provides 100 IUs per glass.

Also, make sure you’re getting regular, safe sun exposure. You can even visit a tanning salon that offers UVB tanning rays. Your breasts and your entire body will benefit. This is preventive medicine at its best.

David Novak is a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist, appearing in newspapers and magazines around the country. David is a nutrition, exercise and well-being enthusiast, and enjoys competitive tennis and running. His byline appears in many health and wellness publications, including weekly features for Healthline.com.  For more of his stories and other health articles pertaining to all areas of health, diet, fitness and wellness, visit http://www.healthline.com/.