The Preventive Role of the Vitamin D Endocrine System in Cervical Cancer

Abstract

Vitamin D along with its active metabolite calcitriol and its metabolic and signaling system, known as the vitamin D endocrine system, have been widely recognized as a pivotal regulator of calcium homeostasis in addition to non-calcemic antitumoral effects in a variety of human cancers, including cervical cancer. Several studies have found an inverse relationship between the incidence of cervical neoplasia and vitamin D levels. This narrative review updates the current evidence supporting the notion that the vitamin D endocrine system has a preventive role on cervical cancer, mainly in the early phases of the disease, acting at the level of suppressing cell proliferation, promoting apoptosis, modulating inflammatory responses, and probably favoring the clearance of human papillomavirus-dependent cervical lesions. Although an optimal vitamin D status helps in the prevention and regression of low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions of the cervix, it appears that vitamin D alone or combined with chemotherapeutic agents has little effectivity once advanced cervical cancer is established. These observations suggest that an optimal vitamin D status might exert beneficial actions in the early phases of cervical cancer by preventing its onset and progression.