Vitamin D linked to lung cancer survival

ANN ARBOR, Mich., March 3 (UPI) -- The level of an enzyme that plays a role in metabolizing vitamin D -- CYP24A1 -- can predict lung cancer survival, U.S. researchers say.

Study author Dr. Nithya Ramnath of the University of Michigan Medical School says levels of the enzyme were elevated as much as 50 times in lung adenocarcinoma -- cancer -- compared with normal lung tissue.

The higher the level of CYP24A1, the more likely tumors were to be aggressive, Ramnath says.

One-third of lung cancer patients had high levels of the enzyme and those patients had nearly half the survival rate after five years as patients with low levels of the enzyme, Ramnath says.

The study, published in the Clinical Cancer Research, says CYP24A1 interacts with calcitriol, the active form of vitamin D -- but when levels of CYP24A1 climb, the enzyme begins to hinder the positive anti-cancer effects of vitamin D.

"Half of lung cancers will recur after surgery, so it's important to find a way to prevent or delay this recurrence," Ramnath says in a statement. "A natural compound like vitamin D is attractive because it has few side effects, but it's even better if we can determine exactly who would benefit from receiving vitamin D."