Recently Diagnosed or Relapsed? Stop Looking For a Miracle Cure, and Use Evidence-Based Therapies To Enhance Your Treatment and Prolong Your Remission
Multiple Myeloma an incurable disease, but I have spent the last 25 years in remission using a blend of conventional oncology and evidence-based nutrition, supplementation, and lifestyle therapies from peer-reviewed studies that your oncologist probably hasn't told you about.
Click the orange button to the right to learn more about what you can start doing today.
Can vitamin D prevent side effects of myeloma treatments? According to the study linked below, it can. Previous posts on PeopleBeatingCancer.org have established that vitamin D provides many health benefits for myeloma patients.
Can vitamin D reduce or eliminate cancer patient’s adverse events?
1. Vitamin D and Cancer Adverse Events
Bone Health: Vitamin D plays a crucial role in bone metabolism. Cancer treatments, especially those targeting bone-related cancers (e.g., multiple myeloma, metastatic bone disease), can lead to bone loss or fractures. Vitamin D, often combined with calcium, can help reduce the risk of such complications.
Fatigue: Fatigue is a common adverse event in cancer patients. Some studies suggest that vitamin D supplementation may reduce fatigue in those with low vitamin D levels, although more research is needed.
Immune Function: Vitamin D supports immune system regulation. In cancer patients undergoing treatments that suppress immunity, maintaining adequate vitamin D levels might reduce the risk of infections.
Inflammation and Toxicity: Preliminary studies suggest vitamin D might reduce inflammation or the severity of treatment-related toxicities, but evidence remains limited.
2. Cancer-Specific Benefits
Colorectal Cancer: Some evidence links vitamin D supplementation with better outcomes and fewer side effects in colorectal cancer patients.
Breast and Prostate Cancer: Studies have shown mixed results regarding vitamin D’s role in reducing adverse events or improving treatment outcomes.
3. Optimal Doses and Risks
Deficiency vs. Supplementation: The benefits of vitamin D are more evident in patients who are deficient. Supplementing without a deficiency may not yield significant results and could even pose risks (e.g., hypercalcemia).
High Doses: Excessive vitamin D intake can lead to toxicity, including kidney damage, cardiovascular issues, and more.
4. Evidence Gaps
While there are promising signals, robust evidence from large-scale randomized controlled trials (RCTs) is needed to establish a definitive link between vitamin D and reduced adverse events in cancer patients.
Recommendations
Testing: Cancer patients should have their vitamin D levels tested. Supplementation should be tailored to correct deficiencies.
Consultation: Always consult with healthcare providers before starting vitamin D supplementation, as interactions with cancer treatments are possible.
Lifestyle: In addition to supplementation, moderate sunlight exposure and a vitamin D-rich diet (e.g., fatty fish, fortified foods) can help maintain adequate levels.
If you are a MM patient, remember that you should have your vitamin D blood levels checked before you decide how much vitamin D to supplement. I live in Ohio. Not very sunny in the winter…you may live in a place that gets more sun.
I am a long-term MM survivor. Since my diagnosis in early 1994, I have watched how the importance of vitamin D levels in the blood of MM patients has become central to managing MM.
Vitamin D supplementation appeared to be both effective and safe, though careful monitoring is advised.
Vitamin D supplementation demonstrated potential benefits for oncology patients, mitigating the side effects of chemotherapy (CT) and radiotherapy (RT) while supporting bone health, according to a study published in Nutrients.
Despite the heterogeneity of methodologies across studies, evidence suggested that vitamin D plays a critical role in reducing treatment-associated adverse events, such as
peripheral neuropathy,
nausea,
and fatigue.
In addition, maintaining adequate levels of vitamin D may help preserve bone density, particularly in patients undergoing preoperative chemoradiotherapy.
“As many cancer patients will confirm, the chemotherapy prescribed to kill the disease is often more debilitating than the cancer itself, with a range of horrendous side effects.
Gastrointestinal mucositis, a painful inflammation and ulceration of the digestive tract, is one adverse outcome of chemotherapy that has plagued cancer sufferers for years, and for which no effective treatment currently exists.
But this bleak outlook may be about to change, according to University of South Australia researchers who say Vitamin D could potentially mitigate inflamed intestinal tracts and provide relief to cancer patients.
A new study undertaken by Dr Andrea Stringer, Associate Professor Paul Andersonand PhD student Cyan Sylvester highlights the limited options for easing the gastrointestinal side effects of chemotherapy, singling out Vitamin D and probiotics as the most promising.
“We already know that Vitamin D helps in the absorption of calcium, but new findings suggest it may also play an important role in chemotherapy-induced intestinal mucositis,” says Sylvester, the lead author of a recent paper reviewing new therapeutic strategies for combatting gastrointestinal toxicity.
“The severity and progression of various gastrointestinal diseases, such as irritable bowel syndrome and colorectal cancer, is associated with Vitamin D deficiency,” she says. “It appears that Vitamin D helps suppress inflammation and enhances the function of T-cells which boosts immunity.”
Vitamin D is also thought to improve the efficacy of certain anti-cancer drugs.
The researchers are now working on ways to enhance the activity of vitamin D in the intestine as a more viable option for treating gastrointestinal mucositis.
“We know that Vitamin D definitely does more than help absorb calcium, but we need to better understand and optimise its action in the gut before we can be 100 per cent confident that it could be a treatment option for gastrointestinal mucositis,” says Dr Stringer.
“We are investigating the effects of enhanced vitamin D activity in the intestine on both reducing damage and minimising compositional change to the gut microbiome caused by chemotherapy agents.”
Probiotics (live bacteria and yeast) have also been widely promoted for digestive health and there is evidence they reduce the severity of diarrhoea and abdominal pain, but researchers have not been able to establish the direct effect of probiotics on intestinal function that reduces these side effects during and following cancer treatment. “
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2 comments
Sandra Chelnov says
a few months ago
Except for one episode of acute diarrhea and an acute episode of nausea my gut has been quite un rebellious during my first cycle of induction treatment. I live in western NY (not much sun in the winter) and several years ago my functional medicine doctor put me on 10,000 units of vitamin D/day and my level is checked regularly. I lower it some during the summer. Since I’ve been in treatment I take probiotics 2 hrs after I take my daily antibiotic. I also take a couple doses (AM & PM) of bovine colostrum (which as the first food of mammals is known to provide immunity to the just born whose immune system is undeveloped and vulnerable.) I also drink a digestive tea made with cumin, coriander & fennel seeds. Also ginger tea! So far so good. I’ve had my dex reduced to 20 mg and look forward to getting it reduced further.
