Vitamin D plus calcium may cut skin cancer risk

July 23rd, 2011

Women who take supplements of vitamin D and calcium may be at a reduced risk of developing skin cancer, suggests new data. 

Vitamin D and calcium supplements were associated with a 50 percent reduction in the risk of melanoma in women at high risk of developing this life-threatening skin cancer, researchers from Stanford University report in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Led by Jean Tang, MD, PhD, the researchers analyzed data from the Women's Health Initiative, a randomized clinical trial involving 36,282 postmenopausal women who received either placebo or 400 international units of vitamin D and 1,000 milligrams of calcium carbonate per day.

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