Vitamin D could lower your risk of bowel cancer

GETTING regular doses of sunshine could lower your risk of developing bowel cancer, researchers say.

They found that vitamin D perks up the immune system’s anticancer f unction, r aising its defences against tumour cells.

It is the first time a link between the vitamin – obtained mostly f rom exposure to the sun – and this type of cancer prevention has been shown in a large human study.

US researchers examined 318 colorectal cancer patients and 624 people who were free of cancer. All had blood samples drawn in the 1990s, before any had developed cancer.

Patients with high amounts of a substance produced in the liver from vitamin D had a lower-than-average chance of developing bowel tumours, says a report in the journal Gut.

Researcher Dr Shuji Ogino said: ‘People with high levels of vitamin D in their bloodstream have a lower overall risk of developing colorectal cancer. This vindicates basic laboratory discoveries that vitamin D can interact with the immune system to raise the body’s defences against cancer. Laboratory research suggests that vitamin D boosts immune system function by activating T cells that recognise and attack cancer cells.’

The study adds to evidence that a dose of sunshine could boost your chances of beating cancer – although many people now stay out of the sun or cover up outdoors because of warnings that over- exposure to the harmful rays can cause skin cancer.

A major research review last year found that cancer patients with more vitamin D in their blood tended to have better survival rates and were in remission longer than those who were deficient, meaning that those diagnosed in summer and autumn lived longer than those diagnosed at other times of the year. But debate rages over whether vitamin D plays a role in helping prevent the disease.

The vitamin is found in salmon, tuna and other oily fish, and is added to milk. But most vitamin D in the bloodstream comes f rom exposure to sunshine. Figures show three-quarters of Britons have vitamin D intakes below recommended levels.