Vitamin D3 regulates cell viability in cholangiocarcinoma

Hi everybody-

I was doing some research and bumped into this study.  So I started looking for old threads of people here talking about this study or vitamin d3.  I saw a few posts about a few individuals who have been using/taking vitamin d3, although nothing widespread.  The study's title alone seems to indicate a curative potential, and even a synergistic effect with the noted chemotherapy drugs.  Although it was only in vitro and in vivo.  I did find one clinical study (http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01039181) that intends to investigate  vitamin d3 in CC cases.

Anyway, my Mom has CC, and I am trying too figure out if supplementation of this vitamin could be helpful, what dosage is safe and would be potentially helpful.  My only concern is that Vitamin D3 is processed by the liver, which as we know is typically the compromised organ in CC patients.  She has not started chemo (folfox-6), but will be in the next week.

Anyway, I wanted to open discussion, opinions , and feedback to the general community on this vitamin.  All responses appreciated! 

Here's the study:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22025972

Vitamin D3 regulates cell viability in gastric cancer and cholangiocarcinoma.

AuthorsBaek S, et al. Show all Journal
Anat Cell Biol. 2011 Sep;44(3):204-9. Epub 2011 Sep 29.

Affiliation
Department of Anatomy, Pusan National University School of Medicine, Yangsan, Korea.

Abstract
A low serum level of vitamin D has been associated with an increased incidence of gastrointestinal tract cancers. However, the effects of vitamin D3 have not been investigated in gastric cancer and cholangiocarcinoma. In the present study, we found that vitamin D3 treatment significantly suppressed the viability of gastric cancer and cholangiocarcinoma cells. Moreover, vitamin D3 had a synergistic effect with other anti-cancer drugs, such as paclitaxel, adriamycin, and vinblastine, for suppressing cell viability. To determine the underlying mechanism involved in the regulation of viability by vitamin D3, we examined the effects of vitamin D3 on expression of hedgehog signaling target genes, which has been associated with gastric cancer and cholangiocarcinoma. Vitamin D3 treatment decreased the level of mRNA expression of patched1, Gli1, cyclin D1, and Bcl2, suggesting the possibility that vitamin D3 may act through regulation of hedgehog signaling. From the above results, we conclude that vitamin D3 regulates cell viability in gastric cancer and cholangiocarcinoma.