Daily Vitamin D Pill Could Cut the Risk of Dying from Cancer by 13 Per Cent, New Study Reveals

Boosting vitamin D levels by taking a daily supplement could cut the risk of dying from cancer by 13 per cent, according to a study.

Vitamin D is made by the body when exposed to sunshine but modern lifestyles mean many spend more time indoors and about one in five in the UK have insufficient levels of the nutrient.

US researcher Dr Shifeng Mao, from the Allegheny Health Network Cancer Institute in Pittsburgh, reported findings showing that people who were deficient in vitamin D were more than twice as likely to develop pancreatic cancer and also had a higher risk of bowel cancer.

A separate study involving 79,000 healthy adults found taking a supplement for at least three years was associated with a 13 per cent drop in risk of dying from any form of cancer later in life. Amazon.com Gift Card i... Buy New $25.00 (as of 07:45 UTC - Details)

A third study found taking a daily pill along with a statin was linked to a reduction in deaths from prostate cancer of almost 40 per cent.

All three studies were presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology conference in Chicago.

The work bolsters growing calls for the Government to add vitamin D to common foods such as milk or bread – a policy used in the US, Canada, Sweden, Finland and Australia.

While vitamin D is produced when skin is exposed to the sun, it can also be obtained by eating liver, eggs, red meat and plenty of oily fish.

But millions who do not eat enough of these foods – or fail to get sufficient sunshine, particularly in gloomy winter months – should take supplements instead.

The study that reported the 13 per cent reduction in cancer risk was conducted by Michigan State University and Hurley Medical Centre, which reviewed findings from ten trials involving adults with an average age of 68.

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