A study by the Stanford University School of Medicine researchers shows that the risk of melanoma, which is critical type of skin cancer can be reduce half by. Women who are at a higher risk of suffering from this disease may improve their chances of melanoma risk by combing calcium with Vitamin D.

Existing data from clinical trials used

The study worked on the available data from previous clinical trials. The women who had a history of non-melanoma skin cancer were identified, as the probability of these women suffering from dangerous melanoma is higher. Researchers administered a combination of calcium and Vitamin D to women who had been diagnosed with non-melanoma cancer. The trial showed that fifty-seven percent of these women did not acquire the melanoma in comparison to women who were not treated with this combination. Some of the most common types of non-melanoma skin cancers include basal cell or squamous cell cancer.

The new therapy will target women at high risk

The therapy to combine calcium and Vitamin D will be useful as a preventive medicine that will be administered to women at high risk of contracting melanoma. The recommended dosage is 1000 milligrams of calcium combined with 400 IU of Vitamin D daily. However, the physicians warn that this therapy does not reduce the risk for women without a history of non-melanoma skin cancer. The supplement was found to be effective in women using placebos to overcome their non-melanoma skin cancers. Vitamin D is important for the growth of the bones and also affects the non-skeletal cells. Growth in the cells reproduction is several bodily parts is controlled by Vitamin D. However, the effectiveness of the supplement needs further investigation and study before reaching a final conclusion.

Study used Women’s Health Initiative data

The researchers analyzed data from the WHI that included 36000 women between the ages of fifty years and seventy-nine years. Fifty percent of the women were given the supplement and the remaining were given placebo pills. A first positive result found during the study showed that the supplement was effective in reducing the effects of cancer. Amongst the 36,000 women who were included in the study, only 176 patients were later detected with melanoma. However, melanoma is rare and therefore, the researchers of the study feel that they need to include a larger sample of patients for further clinical trials and prove the actual benefit of the supplement to reduce the probability of melanoma.