Can Vitamin D Help People with Mesothelioma?

July 28, 2008 – A surprising new option for cancer treatment may one day be useful in managing cancers of all types, including mesothelioma. The new treatment is vitamin D, which scientists have discovered can prevent cancer cells from growing.

One man who is currently receiving vitamin D treatment is David Rose, who for 40 years had a three-pack-a-day cigarette habit. To make matters worse, he also spent 18 months working with asbestos. Rose explains, “I got down in the pit with a broom and swept all this stuff up to the end and shoveled it out with a shovel. I lived in a cloud of asbestos for a year and a half.”

David Rose eventually developed lung cancer as a result of his high-risk lifestyle. However, doctors detected the cancer early, and were able to remove it completely. In order to prevent the cancer from returning, David Rose is currently receiving a new experimental treatment that involves high doses of vitamin D.

Rose is part of a study where patients are being given high doses of vitamin D, which has shown positive results in treating and preventing several types of cancer throughout the past decade.

Dr. Alex Adjei of the Roswell Park Cancer Institute says, “Vitamin D can actually kill cancer cells grown in the lab, as well as in animal models, and it can prevent cells from dividing, growing, and spreading.”

Dr. Mary Ellen Reid says, “With an agent that’s shown as much activity as vitamin D, that, in this population, we have an opportunity to slow the progression of lung cancer and maybe reverse it.”

This is extremely important for lung cancer patients. In most cases, patients receive a diagnosis when the cancer has already advanced into the late stages of development and treatment options have become limited.

The same problem occurs in patients with mesothelioma, an asbestos-related cancer that commonly develops in the lining of the lungs. Mesothelioma is an aggressive form of cancer, which is very difficult to treat effectively.

Although it’s too early to know whether this experimental treatment may be useful in treating or preventing asbestos-related cancers, there is the possibility that vitamin D may one day be part of a mesothelioma treatment regimen if its potential benefits are further explored.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 28th, 2008 at 10:02 am and is filed under Mesothelioma, Mesothelioma Treatment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed. Responses are currently closed, but you trackback from your own site.