Progress on vitamin D in the preventionand treatment of colorectal cancer and its supplementation applications

Colorectal cancer is one of the common malignant tumors in digestive system, because of its incidence and mortality rates rising annually in China, seriously threating to people′s lives and health. Vitamin D plays an important role in inhibiting colorectal cancer by suppressing tumor cell proliferation, promoting tumor cell apoptosis, inhibiting tumor cell migration, invasion, and angiogenesis and also, enhancing the body′s immune system. This article summarizes and analyzes the specific mechanisms by which vitamin D inhibits the occurrence and development of colorectal cancer, and discusses the current progress in research on vitamin D supplementation, providing new references for the early prevention and adjuvant treatment of colorectal cancer.