The Effect of Vitamin D and Its Analogs in Ovarian Cancer

Abstract

Ovarian cancer is one of the deadliest cancers in women, due to its heterogeneity and usually late diagnosis. The current first-line therapies of debulking surgery and intensive chemotherapy cause debilitating side effects. Therefore, there is an unmet medical need to find new and effective therapies with fewer side effects, or adjuvant therapies, which could reduce the necessary doses of chemotherapeutics. Vitamin D is one of the main regulators of serum calcium and phosphorus homeostasis, but it has also anticancer effects. It induces differentiation and apoptosis, reduces proliferation and metastatic potential of cancer cells. However, doses that would be effective against cancer cause hypercalcemia. For this reason, synthetic and less calcemic analogs have been developed and tested in terms of their anticancer effect. The anticancer role of vitamin D is best understood in colorectal, breast, and prostate cancer and much less research has been done in ovarian cancer. In this review, we thus summarize the studies on the role of vitamin D and its analogs in vitro and in vivo in ovarian cancer models.

Paradigm Shift: A Comprehensive Review of Ovarian Cancer Management in an Era of Advancements

“…Namely, they can induce tumour cell differentiation and apoptosis while reducing the cells' proliferation and dissemination potential [209][210][211]. Consequently, synthetic VD analogues, which do not possess the side effect of hypercalcemia, have been developed to target malignant diseases [212]. Many epidemiological studies have linked VD deficiency to cancer risk and mortality [213][214][215].…”

“…Many epidemiological studies have linked VD deficiency to cancer risk and mortality [213][214][215]. The implications of VD are best characterised by breast, colorectal, and prostate cancers [212]. Regarding OC, although in vitro and in vivo studies have obtained promising results, the impact of VD and its analogues is still blurred.…”

Potential tactics with vitamin D and certain phytochemicals for enhancing the effectiveness of immune-checkpoint blockade therapies

“…Vitamin D could modulate tumor growth and inflammation in the tumor microenvironment, however, which might be reversed in high-fat diet conditions, suggesting the importance of diet on tumor growth [14]. Epidemiological studies also suggest that vitamin D deficiency increases the incidence of colorectal cancer, and that it has a negative impact on survival of the patients with colorectal cancer [15]. Levels of active vitamin D have been downregulated in the serum of patients with colorectal cancer, which might be correlated with increased Th17 lymphocytes [16].…”

A Pleiotropic Nuclear Hormone Labelled Hundred Years Ago Vitamin D

“…This year we are celebrating 100 years of the naming of vitamin D, but the molecule is, in fact, more than one billion years old [ 1 ]. Nutrition Bulletin and Endocrine Connections are also honoring the centenary of vitamin D’s discovery, but with 21 original publications and review articles written by experts in the field, Nutrients represents the largest collection [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 ].…”