A new study has linked low levels of vitamin D with the development of aggressive prostate cancers, regal tribune reports.
The recent study was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Prostate cancer is the second main cause of death among American men, being surpassed only by lung cancer.
The new findings confirmed previous research results where they observed more aggressive tumors among patients with low levels of vitamin D, according to UPI.
However, scientists have still not been able to identify the exact element that causes prostrate cancer. The only concrete explanation that the scientists provide about the cause of prostate cancer is that it is caused by changes in the DNA of a prostate cell.
"Vitamin D deficiency may predict aggressive prostate cancer as a biomarker," said lead investigator Dr. Adam Murphy, an assistant professor of urology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a Northwestern Medicine urologist, according to Medical Net.
"Men with dark skin, low vitamin D intake or low sun exposure should be tested for vitamin D deficiency when they are diagnosed with an elevated PSA or prostate cancer. Then a deficiency should be corrected with supplements."
For the study, the researchers studied 190 men of about 64 years of age who had undergone a prostatectomy between 2009 and 2014. Their investigation was part of an ongoing study that assessed the vitamin D levels of 1760 men from Chicago.
Out of the 190 men included in this study, 87 of them presented an aggressive form of prostate cancer and also below average levels of vitamin D.
According to the American Cancer Society, approximately one man in seven is diagnosed with prostate cancer throughout his lifetime.
