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Dermatology (Expert Forum)
Is melanoma simply a Vitamin D deficiency cancer?
Answered by
Alan Rockoff, MD - dermatology, Child Skin Problems
The Rockoff Dermatology Center
Brookline - MA
This forum is for questions regarding Dermatology issues, such as: skin rashes, acne, birthmarks, skin infections, rosacea, and general skin care.
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Is melanoma simply a Vitamin D deficiency cancer?
by armchair_philosopher, Sep 22, 2006 12:00AM
Lately there's been some research speculating several cancers to be Vitamin D deficiencies, except for one: malignant melanoma.
Yet a deficiency in Vitamin D3 would affect the skin first and foremost, because it is the primary source when exposed to natural sunlight. Moreover, a Vitamin D deficiency disease would affect all ages and both genders, unlike prostate, breast, and colon cancers for example, which largely arise in old age. And besides, no cancer experienced such alarming growth as melanoma did during the sun-protective efforts of the past quarter-century.
So do you think that melanoma could stem from a deficiency in the "sunshine vitamin"?
Yet a deficiency in Vitamin D3 would affect the skin first and foremost, because it is the primary source when exposed to natural sunlight. Moreover, a Vitamin D deficiency disease would affect all ages and both genders, unlike prostate, breast, and colon cancers for example, which largely arise in old age. And besides, no cancer experienced such alarming growth as melanoma did during the sun-protective efforts of the past quarter-century.
So do you think that melanoma could stem from a deficiency in the "sunshine vitamin"?
Doctor's Answer
by Alan Rockoff, MD, Sep 22, 2006 12:00AM
, Sep 22, 2006 12:00AM
I do not think that people who get chronic sun exposure are necessarily getting more Vitamin D. Indeed, sunlight darkens and thickens the skin, which inhibits ultraviolet penetration.
Could the prevention of melanoma thus involve optimizing sun exposure in order to ensure a consistent, year-round supply of Vitamin D3?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/hottopics/sunshine/benefits.shtml
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=51913
"A short while later, a group of scientists from UCLA published a remarkable paper in the prestigious journal, Nature. The UCLA group confirmed two other recent studies, showing that a naturally occurring steroid hormone - a hormone most of us take for granted - was, in effect, a potent antibiotic. Instead of directly killing bacteria and viruses, the steroid hormone under question increases the body's production of a remarkable class of proteins, called antimicrobial peptides. The 200 known antimicrobial peptides directly and rapidly destroy the cell walls of bacteria, fungi, and viruses, including the influenza virus, and play a key role in keeping the lungs free of infection. The steroid hormone that showed these remarkable antibiotic properties was plain old vitamin D."