title: [Analysis of the Cochrane Review: Vitamin D supplementation for prevention of cancer in adults. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2014, 6:CD007469].
abstract: Vitamin D has been mentioned in the literature has a potentially important agent for preventing the development of tumors, namely breast, colon, prostate and ovary tumors. However, the currently available evidence on the subject is contradictory and inconclusive. In this Cochrane systematic review, patients taking supplemental vitamin D on its various forms (cholecalciferol, ergocalciferol, alfacalcidol or calcitriol), regardless the dose, duration and route of administration, were compared with placebo, healthy adults without any intervention or adults with a disease in a stable phase, non-related with vitamin D metabolism. The results showed that currently, there is no firm evidence that vitamin D supplementation increases or decreases the risk of cancer occurrence, mainly in elderly community-dwelling women. Though at risk of type I errors due to small samples and substantial dropout of participants during the trials, the administration of supplemental cholecalciferol led to a 12% (CI 95%: 2 a 22%) decreased in cancer mortality, while the administration of supplemental vitamin D decreased all-cause mortality by 7% (CI 95%: 2 a 12%). The combined administration of supplements of cholecalciferol and calcium induced an increased incidence of nephrolithiasis.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Estudos de Medicina Baseada na Evidência. Faculdade de Medicina. Universidade de Lisboa. & Centro Colaborador Português da Rede Cochrane Iberoamericana. Lisboa. Portugal.
authors.forename: André Torres
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Cardoso
authors.affiliation: Centro de Estudos de Medicina Baseada na Evidência. Faculdade de Medicina. Universidade de Lisboa. & Centro Colaborador Português da Rede Cochrane Iberoamericana. Lisboa. Portugal.
authors.forename: Liliana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Nanji
authors.affiliation: Centro de Estudos de Medicina Baseada na Evidência. Faculdade de Medicina. Universidade de Lisboa. & Centro Colaborador Português da Rede Cochrane Iberoamericana. & Unidade de Farmacologia Clínica. Instituto de Medicina Molecular. Faculdade de Medicina. Universidade de Lisboa. Lisboa. Portugal.
authors.forename: João
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.affiliation: Centro de Estudos de Medicina Baseada na Evidência. Faculdade de Medicina. Universidade de Lisboa. & Centro Colaborador Português da Rede Cochrane Iberoamericana. Lisboa. Portugal.
authors.forename: António
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vaz-Carneiro
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control*; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014815:Vitamins / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D014815:Vitamins; D014807:Vitamin D