REVIEW article
Front. Med.
Sec. Gastroenterology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1657534
This article is part of the Research TopicReviews in Gastroenterology 2025View all articles
Vitamin D Deficiency, Supplementation, & Colorectal Cancer Outcomes: Interactions with Obesity & Risk Profiles
Provisionally accepted
Basmalah Naji1Menatalla Mahmoud Eltawil1
Najla Faisal Nemer1*Omer Tarig Abdelazim1
Jayaditya D Patil2
Salim Fredericks1- 1RCSI Bahrain, Adliya, Bahrain
- 2Yale New Haven Hospital, New Haven, United States
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Vitamin D deficiency, colorectal cancer, and tumor progression are increasingly linked in recent research. Beyond its well-established roles in bone metabolism and immune regulation, vitamin D has emerged as a potential modulator of cancer prevention and prognosis, particularly in colorectal cancer, where deficiency may worsen outcomes.Vitamin D is critical in the prevention and prognosis of colorectal cancer, such as colorectal adenocarcinoma. This review aims to explore the impact of Vitamin D deficiency on colorectal cancer progression and assess the role of vitamin D supplementation in improving outcomes.A narrative review was conducted, utilizing five databases: PubMed, Medline Plus, ScienceDirect, Scopus, and Google Scholar, focusing on human studies published in the last 15 years (from 2012 to 2025). Priority was given to primary studies like randomized controlled trials and cohort studies, while systematic reviews were included for broader context. Exclusion criteria included animal studies, non-English papers, and non-peer-reviewed content.The review synthesizes evidence from 33 primary studies and 16 high-quality reviews. Findings indicate that vitamin D supplementation may enhance prognosis by influencing serum levels, immune modulation, and gut microbiota. However, clinical trials results are mixed, particularly concerning optimal dosing, genetic variability, and factors like obesity.Vitamin D supplementation shows promise in improving colorectal cancer prognosis, but further research is necessary to refine dosing strategies and develop personalized therapies tailored to individual patient needs.
Keywords: Vitamin D, colorectal cancer, VDR polymorphisms, Vitamin D supplementation, Obesity, Cancer prognosis
Received: 01 Jul 2025; Accepted: 04 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Naji, Eltawil, Nemer, Abdelazim, Patil and Fredericks. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Najla Faisal Nemer, RCSI Bahrain, Adliya, Bahrain
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