THE ESSENTIAL
- Health authorities recommend a dietary vitamin D intake of 15 micrograms per day for adults.
- About 80,000 skin cases are diagnosed each year in France.
- There are different types of skin cancer. Basal cell carcinomas represent 70% of cases, squamous cell carcinomas 20% and melanomas 10%.
Regular users of vitamin D supplements have a lower risk of developing skin cancer than people who do not take them. These are the findings of a collaborative study by the University of Eastern Finland and Kuopio University Hospital.
Taking Vitamin D Regularly Cuts Melanoma Risk
Finnish dermatologists gathered 498 adult patients who may be at increased risk of skin cancer, such as basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma or melanoma. They took into account several elements such as medical history, but also their consumption of oral vitamin D supplements. They also classified the volunteers according to their risk of malignant tumors (low, moderate, high).
Scientists found that there were significantly fewer cases of melanoma in regular vitamin D users than in other participants. Furthermore, the classification of skin cancer risk of consumers of the “sunshine vitamin” was considerably better. The team estimates that the risk of melanoma in people taking the dietary supplement regularly was reduced by more than half.
Vitamin D and skin cancer: what dose protects?
It would seem that it is not necessary to take vitamin D every day to take advantage of its protective effect against cancer. The study reveals that even occasional supplement users show a lower risk of melanoma than non-users.
“However, there was no statistically significant association between vitamin D use and severity of photoaging, facial photoaging, actinic keratoses, number of nevi, basal cell carcinoma, and squamous cell carcinoma”say the authors.
If the link between vitamin D consumption and a lower risk of melanoma seems confirmed, researchers still have a point to clarify. “The question of the optimal dose of oral vitamin D for it to have beneficial effects remains unanswered. Until we know more, national intake recommendations should be followed”says Ilkka Harvima, professor of dermatology and allergology at the University of Eastern Finland who worked on the study published in the journal Melanoma Research end of December 2022.