Download In Tests, Vitamin D Shrinks Breast Cancer Cells

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http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/study-vitamin-kills-cancer-cells/story?id=9904415
Doctors have known that low levels of vitamin D are linked to certain kinds of cancers as well
as to diabetes and asthma, but new research also shows that the vitamin can kill human
cancer cells. The results fall short of an immediate cancer cure, but they are encouraging,
medical professionals say. JoEllen Welsh, a researcher with the State University of New York
at Albany, has studied the effects of vitamin D for 25 years. Part of her research involves
taking human breast cancer cells and treating them with a potent form of vitamin D.
Within a few days, half the cancer cells shriveled up and died. Welsh said the vitamin has
the same effect as a drug used for breast cancer treatment. "Vitamin D enters the cells and
triggers the cell death process," she [said]. "It's similar to what we see when we treat cells
with Tamoxifen," a drug used to treat breast cancer. The vitamin's effects were even more
dramatic on breast cancer cells injected into mice. After several weeks of treatment, the
cancer tumors in the mice shrank by an average of more than 50 percent. Some tumors
disappeared. Similar results have been achieved on colon and prostate cancer tumors in
mice.