Prostate cancer is the most common cancer to affect men in the UK with more than 110 men diagnosed with the condition every day. The usual treatment for this type of cancer is through androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), which reduces the serum levels of the androgens on which the cancer feeds. One major side effect of ADT is the degenerative bone condition osteoporosis.
Until now many specialists have recommended that patients undergoing ADT for prostate cancer take calcium and vitamin D supplements to reduce the risk of them developing osteoporosis and to prevent them from suffering fractures because of bone loss.
However, a new study has now revealed that those supplements do not, in fact, prevent the weakening of the bones and actually put the patient at greater risk of their prostate cancer becoming more aggressive. Men taking the double dose of calcium and vitamin D supplements are also more at risk of heart disease, according to the research by a team from the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Centre in North Carolina.
The research examined the results of 12 clinical trials involving almost 2,400 men with prostate cancer who were having ADT and who had also been prescribed calcium and vitamin D supplements. The conclusion was that the supplements did not affect bone mineral density in those men.
More worryingly, the team unearthed a link between the extra calcium and a high risk of aggressive prostate cancer and cardiovascular disease.
The study called for further research into those risks by examining a group of men with prostate cancer undergoing ADT who are not given supplements against the results of those taking the dietary supplements.
And the team concluded that specialists should not routinely prescribe calcium and vitamin D supplements to men with prostate cancer until more research has been carried out.
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