vitamin d and pancreatic cancer—an update维生素d和胰腺cancer-an更新.pdfVIP

Cancers 2011, 3, 213-226; doi:10.3390/cancers3010213 OPEN ACCESS cancers ISSN 2072-6694 /journal/cancers Review Vitamin D and Pancreatic Cancer—An Update Kun-Chun Chiang 1, Chun-Nan Yeh 1 and Tai C. Chen 2,* 1 Department of Surgery, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University, Taiwan; E-Mails: robertviolet6292@.tw (K.C.C.); ycn@.tw (C.N.Y.) 2 Boston University School of Medicine, 715 Albany Street, Boston, MA 02118, USA * Correspondence and reprints requests to; E-Mail: taichen@; Tel.: +1-617-638 4543; Fax:+1-617-638 8882. Received: 7 December 2010; in revised form: 30 December 2010 / Accepted: 31 December 2010 / Published: 6 January 2011 Abstract: The non-classical actions of vitamin D, namely anti-proliferation, pro-differentiation, immune function modulation, and anti-inflammation, have received great attention during the past decade, in particular, the potential of vitamin D analogs alone or in combination with other anticancer agents for the treatment of a variety of cancers. The association between vitamin D status and the higher incidence of many forms of cancer has suggested that vitamin D may play a role in the etiology of these types of cancer. Although it is still controversial whether this association exists for pancreatic cancer, biochemical evidence clearly indicates pancreatic cancer cells are responsive to the inhibitory effect of vitamin D and its analogs. In this review, we discuss briefly the origin and current therapy of