Patients with Vitamin D deficiency who took vitamin D supplements experienced less pain and fatigue during palliative cancer treatment, according to a randomised, placebo-controlled study conducted by researchers at Karolinska Institutet. Cancers, a peer-reviewed scientific journal, published the study.
Vitamin D deficiency is common among cancer patients in the palliative phase. Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to pain, infection susceptibility, fatigue, depression, and a lower self-rated quality of life in previous research.
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A previous small study, which was not randomised or placebo-controlled, suggested that vitamin D supplementation could help patients with advanced cancer reduce opioid doses, reduce antibiotic use, and improve their quality of life.
Between 2017 and 2020, the current study enrolled 244 cancer patients with palliative cancer who were enrolled in ASIH (advanced medical home care) in Stockholm.
At the start of the study, all participants had a vitamin D deficiency. They were randomly assigned to receive either 12 weeks of vitamin D treatment at a relatively high dose (4000 IE/day) or a placebo.
The researchers then tracked changes in opioid doses (as a proxy for pain) at 0, 4, 8, and 12 weeks following the study’s start.
“The results showed that vitamin D treatment was well tolerated and that the vitamin D-treated patients had a significantly slower increase in opioid doses than the placebo group during the study period. In addition, they experienced less cancer-related fatigue compared to the placebo group,” said Linda Björkhem-Bergman, senior physician at Stockholms Sjukhem and associate professor at the Department of Neurobiology, Healthcare Sciences, and Society, Karolinska Institutet.
On the other hand, there was no difference in self-reported quality of life or antibiotic use between the groups.
“The effects were quite small, but statistically significant and may have clinical significance for patients with vitamin D deficiency who have cancer in the palliative phase. This is the first time it has been shown that vitamin D treatment for palliative cancer patients can have an effect on both opioid-sensitive pain and fatigue,” says first author of the study Maria Helde Frankling.
The study is one of the largest pharmaceutical trials ever conducted at ASIH in Sweden. One study’s flaw is its high drop-out rate. Only 150 patients out of 244 were able to complete the 12-week study due to the fact that many patients died of cancer during the study.
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The study was funded by Region Stockholm (ALF), the Swedish Cancer Society, the Stockholms Sjukhems Foundation, and ASIH Stockholm Södra and ASIH Stockholm Norr.
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