Vitamin D alters genetic expression to shield against bladder cancer

Wednesday, September 11, 2013 by: John Phillip
Tags: vitamin D, bladder cancer, genetic expression

(NaturalNews) New cases of bladder cancer are slowly rising in the U.S., as the disease will be diagnosed in 75,000 new cases this year. Bladder cancer will kill 15,000 people this year, and the incidence is three times more prevalent in men than women. As with many forms of cancer, the disease is the result of poor lifestyle choices over the course of decades, as waste metabolites cause genetic alterations in the lining of the bladder that eventually results in cancer.

Vitamin D has been the topic of more than 10,000 research works over the past decade, and has been shown to be a critical factor in blocking DNA mutations that lead to a wide variety of different cancer lines. A research team from the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre has published the results of their work in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (JNCI) that explains how high levels of vitamin D are associated with protection against bladder cancer.

Vitamin D alters cellular metabolism at the genetic level to reduce bladder cancer risk

To conduct the study, researchers assembled a cohort of 2,000 people from 18 hospitals in Spain, including a mix of existing bladder cancer patients and healthy participants. The study author, Dr. Nuria Malats commented "We have seen that those subjects with the highest levels of 25(OH)D3 are those who showed the lowest risk of suffering bladder cancer... these results indicate that high levels of this vitamin are associated with protection from the illness or, similarly, that low levels are associated with a higher risk of suffering from it."

The scientists performing the study found that the protective effect was most pronounced in those participants with the most aggressive forms of bladder cancer, and that vitamin D regulates a specific protein, FGFR3, that is a critical part in the development of this type of cancer. By regulating the FGFR3 protein, vitamin D controls metastasis of bladder cancer cells, the primary mechanism by which most cancers spread throughout the body and create remote tumors that result in death.

This work provided a discussion about how many recent studies have shown dramatic reductions in breast and prostate cancer incidence as a result of maintaining normal vitamin D levels (set at 30 ng/mL). Cutting edge researchers have demonstrated that optimal protection against 17 different cancer lines is realized at a blood saturation of between 50 and 70 ng/mL (measured using the standard 25(OH)D test). Testing blood at six month intervals and supplementing accordingly is the best way to lower the risk of bladder cancer and many other forms of the disease as well.

Sources for this article include:

http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2012/10/26/jnci.djs444
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/10/121030161414.htm
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/252229.php
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-10/cndi-hlo103012.php

About the author:
John Phillip is a Certified Nutritional Consultant and Health Researcher and Author who writes regularly on the cutting edge use of diet, lifestyle modifications and targeted supplementation to enhance and improve the quality and length of life. John is the author of 'Your Healthy Weight Loss Plan', a comprehensive EBook explaining how to use Diet, Exercise, Mind and Targeted Supplementation to achieve your weight loss goal. Visit My Optimal Health Resource to continue reading the latest health news updates, and to download your copy of 'Your Healthy Weight Loss Plan'.