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Vitamin D and cancer: promise or reality

International Symposium | Madrid, March 28-29, 2011

Presentación

Alberto Muñoz (Research Professor CSIC. Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas "Alberto Sols". CSIC-UAM. Madrid. Spain). Donald L. Trump (President & CEO. Professor of Oncology. Roswell Park Cancer Institute & Professor of Medicine. University at Buffalo. Búfalo. United States).

Vitamin D (cholecalciferol or vitamin D3) has been classically known as a major regulator of calcium homeostasis and bone biology. Technically, cholecalciferol is not a vitamin since it is synthesized in the skin when the skin is exposed to solar radiation. More than 90% of the "active" vitamin D in the body is produced in this manner; dietary sources of vitamin D constitute a much smaller proportion of body stores and some dietary sources provide a less active (D2, ergocalciferol) form. Chemical modification of cholecalciferol in liver and kidney as well as many epithelial surfaces and immune cells leads to the formation of 1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 or calcitriol, the active molecule in the organism. Calcitriol is a pleiotropic hormone with many regulatory activities in diverse tissues and organs.

Since the discovery in 1981 of the capacity of calcitriol to inhibit the proliferation and promote the differentiation of cultured human cancer cells, the interest in vitamin D compounds as potential anticancer agents has increased exponentially. Many observational and epidemiological studies suggest that vitamin D deficiency is associated with high risk of several neoplasias, particularly colon cancer as well as breast, prostate and others. The analysis of calcitriol effects in cultured cells and experimental animals indicates complex mechanisms of antitumor action. The few clinical trials done up to now using cholecalciferol, calcitriol, or less calcemic derivatives have not been positive; however, they were mostly inconclusive due to deficient design. There are few data regarding the optimal dose and administration schedule and even the molecule to be used.

In this Symposium there will be presented the epidemiological data on the relation between vitamin D and cancer, the mechanisms of the antiproliferative, anti-invasive, anti-angiogenic and immunomodulatory actions of calcitriol and of the possible resistance to them, and the existing data on vitamin D effects in patients with different types of cancer and the perspectives for the clinical use of vitamin D compounds in cancer treatment and prevention.