An update on vitamin D signaling and cancer.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review of molecular mechanisms and genomic pathways without empirical human trial data
PubMed 32485310 · doi:10.1016/j.semcancer.2020.05.018
What was done
This narrative review synthesizes molecular findings on vitamin D signaling, focusing on how the active metabolite 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25(OH)2D3) binds to the vitamin D receptor (VDR) to modify the epigenome and transcriptome in normal and neoplastic tissues.
What was found
The authors report that activated VDR binds to more than 10,000 human genomic loci and regulates the transcription of approximately 1,000 target genes across various tissue types. These genomic alterations influence proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis pathways common to both immune and malignant cells. While low vitamin D status is noted to correlate with increased risks of colorectal, breast, prostate, and hematologic cancers, the abstract contains no clinical trial numbers or statistical effect sizes.
Why it matters
It provides a genomic and mechanistic rationale for how vitamin D receptor pathways may modulate cancer cell biology and immune surveillance.
Limits
The paper is a non-systematic narrative review providing no new clinical data, meta-analytic estimates, or quantitative outcome measures from human interventional studies.
Cited by
- supports Active vitamin D is converted into a steroid hormone that modulates approximately 5% of the human genome.