A vitamin D deficiency has now been linked to aggressive prostate cancer. "Vitamin D deficiency could be a biomarker of advanced prostate tumour progression in large segments of the general population," said Adam B. Murphy, Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine.
Each man was screened for vitamin D deficiency before undergoing a prostate biopsy. The authors were surprised to find that vitamin D deficiency seemed to be a predictor of aggressive forms of prostate cancer diagnosis in African-American and European-American men. "These men, with severe vitamin D deficiency, had greater odds of advanced grade and advanced stage of tumours within or outside the prostate," Murphy added. Unless it is severe, vitamin D deficiency is fairly asymptomatic, so more effort needs to be put on screening. It is a good idea to get your levels checked on a yearly basis, said the study published in the journal Clinical Cancer Research.