Sometimes, the
side effects
from
chemotherapy are
so bad that
cancer patients
wonder whether
it’s even worth
it.
Hair loss,
weak immune
systems, lack of
energy and
debilitating
joint pain are
all common
symptoms of
cancer
treatment. But a
doctor at Kansas
University
Medical Center
thinks he has
found an answer
at least to the
debilitating
joint pain.
Dr. Qamar
Khan, in a
presentation at
the San Antonio
Breast Cancer
Symposium today,
will show
evidence that
maintaining
adequate levels
of vitamin D
will go a long
way toward
reducing or
eliminating
joint pain.
“We’ve known
for years that
vitamin D is
important for
bones and
protecting from
rickets,” Khan
said. “More and
more over the
past few years,
people have been
realizing that
vitamin D may be
more important
than just
preventing
rickets.”
Khan put
together a study
that examined
the vitamin D
levels of breast
cancer patients.
He found,
according to
preliminary
research, that
about 75 percent
of women who
were about to
undergo
treatment had
insufficient
levels of
vitamin D. He
then
administered
vitamin D.
“Main result
of the clinical
study was that
some women had
less than
optimal levels
of vitamin D in
their blood. And
that their joint
pain was reduced
with more
vitamin D,” Khan
said.
Joint pain
may not sound
overly serious,
but Lynn
Marzinski, a
registered nurse
and coordinator
of the
Brandmeyer
Patient Resource
Center at Kansas
University
Hospital, said
the joint pain
can be
absolutely
terrible.
“It lasts for
a few days,” she
said. “Because
we tell people
not to take
ibuprofen, Advil
or Aleve, it
really puts a
crimp in what
they can take.
Sometimes the
pain can be so
bothersome it’s
tough for them
to move around.”
But Khan is
encouraged that
through his
research,
perhaps, vitamin
D could help
reduce those
side effects. In
addition to
having less
joint pain, Khan
said, vitamin D
supplements also
seemed to
decrease the
amount of
fatigue that
patients
experienced.
The research
is preliminary,
and Khan cannot
conclusively
determine that
vitamin D is
what reduces the
amount of pain
or fatigue, but
he hopes to have
more conclusive
evidence in
about six
months.
Khan said he
hoped to use a
cancer network
being developed
in collaboration
between KUMC, KU
Hospital and
other hospitals
around the
state, to do a
full-on clinical
trial of vitamin
D and its
effects on
cancer patients.
“We’re in the
process of
designing the
trial right now.
Hopefully it
will begin in
about three
months,” Khan
said.
Regardless of
whether vitamin
D does, in fact,
have the
benefits that
Khan suspects it
does, he said
there already
was a take-away
message from his
research.
“Seventy-five
percent of women
have inadequate
levels of
vitamin D,” Khan
said. “It’s very
important in the
prevention of
osteoporosis.”
Khan said
because of the
dangerous
effects of
cancer treatment
on bones, it’s
imperative that
all cancer
patients be
tested for
vitamin D
deficiency.