A study from Henry Ford Hospital claims to have demonstrated an association between Vitamin D levels and basal cell carcinoma, a discovery that may lead study authors to comprehend the progress of the most general type of skin cancer.
Scientists at Henry Ford and Wayne State University supposedly discovered high levels of Vitamin D enzymes and proteins in cancerous tissue extracted from roughly 10 patients as opposed to normal skin tissue hauled from them. Preceding studies appear to have associated Vitamin D deficiency with specific cancers but this is said to be the first time study authors apparently observed Vitamin D and basal cell carcinoma.
Iltefat Hamzavi, M.D., senior staff physician in Henry Ford’s Department of Dermatology and the study’s lead author, commented, “This finding may help us in future research to determine whether vitamin D plays a causative or reactive role in the development and progression of skin cancer.”
Basal cell carcinoma, which apparently affects around 1 million Americans yearly, is said to be the most general kind of skin cancer. This cancer supposedly develops in the basal cells of the deepest layer of the skin. Mohs micrographic surgery is believed to be one of the most effectual treatments for eradicating skin cancer.
It was seen that roughly 10 patients enlisted in the study were said to be detected with basal cell carcinoma and varying in age from 43 to 83. Every participant apparently had biopsies taken of cancerous tissue and adjacent usual skin tissue.
Study authors seem to have discovered a 10-fold augment in Vitamin D enzyme levels and a two-fold boost in Vitamin D protein levels. The enzymes and proteins may aid in adjusting levels of Vitamin D in the skin. Two genes that supposedly play a function in DNA and tumor repair also appeared to encompass high levels of Vitamin D in cancerous tissue as opposed to normal tissue.
The findings would be presented at the Photomedicine Society’s annual meeting in Miami.