Vitamin D

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Copied from Wake Forest University Cancer Center Newsletter, Winston-

Salem, NC:

Molnar, with co-investigator Schwarts, Phd, MPH, currently

chairs a study of Vitamin D3 (chole-calciferol, the natural form of

vitamin D) in doses of up to 10 times the recommended amount as a

dietary supplement. The hypothesis, Molnar said is " that this

relatively non-toxic intervention could alter the natural progression

of the preleukemic condition called myelodysplastic syndrome, and

regulate the bone marrow in the proper way. "

He is less excited about the results in fighting the disease than he

is about the lower-than-expected toxicity of the vitamin D form the

study is using. It has long been known that vitamin D can fight

cancer, Molnar explained. The problem is that the high levels

required can cause hypercalcemia and tissue damage. For the natural

form of vitamin D in the current human study, " I think my conclusion

will be that this drug may be much safer than we think, and we should

continue higher-dose exploration in treatment of cancer. "

He is also in the early stages of testing a vitamin D analog called

paricalcitol (Zemplar) which is already an FDA approved drug used for

kidney dialysis patients. The drug has proven itself to be far less

calcemic than the active form of vitamin D, but how well does it

fight cancer? It works in the Petri dish, Molnar said, causing

leukemia cells to differentiate to normal cells. So the next step is

animal testing.