Abstract 2895: Effects of supplemental calcium and vitamin D3 on serum growth factors in sporadic colorectal adenoma patients in a randomized clinical trial

Fluctuations in energy homeostasis via perturbation of the intricate balance between nutritional intake, physical/energy expenditure, and genetics are thought to play a role in risk for colorectal neoplasms. Nutritional supplementation with calcium and vitamin D 3 may ameliorate risk for colorectal neoplasms and help lead to the development of treatable, non-invasive biomarkers of risk for the disease. Basic science findings indicate that calcium and vitamin D affect the expression of growth factors, such as Insulin-like Growth Factor (IGF-1), but there have been no reports of investigations on the effects of calcium and vitamin D 3 on growth factors in humans. We investigated the effects of calcium 2.0 g and/or vitamin D 3 800 I.U. daily over six months on serum levels of IGF-1 and Insulin-like Growth Factor Binding Protein (IGFBP-3) in a pilot, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, 2×2 factorial chemoprevention trial (n = 88) in sporadic colorectal adenoma patients. In the calcium relative to the placebo group, both IGF-1 (p = 0.08) and IGFBP-3 levels (p = 0.03) increased by 10%, whereas there was no evidence for treatment effects in the vitamin D 3 group. In the calcium plus vitamin D 3 relative to the placebo group, IGF-1 increased by 9% (p = 0.12) but there was no evidence for a change in IGFBP-3. These findings tentatively suggest that dietary supplementation with calcium and/or vitamin D 3 may affect signal transduction pathways mediating the release of growth factors into the systemic circulation in humans and provide support for developing treatable, non-invasive biomarkers of risk for colorectal neoplasms. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2895.