U.S. animal study shows vitamin D protects against obesity-induced endometrial cancer

Findings from an animal study suggest that obese women can reduce their increased risk of endometrial disease if they take vitamin D supplements, say researchers at the Georgetown University Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The scientists report in Cancer Prevention Research published online Tuesday that 25 percent of obese mice fed a vitamin D supplemented diet developed endometrial cancer, while 67 percent of obese mice not treated with the vitamin developed cancer. They also report that vitamin D offered no protective effects for normal weight mice; whether or not they used the vitamin, about 60 percent of these mice developed cancer.

All of the mice were genetically predisposed to develop endometrial cancer, because they were missing one of their two PTEN tumor suppressor genes, loss of which is strongly linked to development of human endometrial cancer. Obesity is also a strong known risk factor, researchers say.

"Vitamin D has been shown to be helpful in a number of cancers, but for endometrial cancer, our study suggests it protects only against cancer that develops due to obesity," says the study's lead investigator, Leena Hilakivi-Clarke, a professor of Oncology. "Still, if these results are confirmed in women, use of vitamin D may be a wonderfully simple way to reduce endometrial cancer risk...