Tier 1 — highest

Vitamin D Supplements and Prevention of Cancer and Cardiovascular Disease

JoAnn E Manson, Nancy R Cook, I-Min Lee, William Christen, Shari S Bassuk, Samia Mora, Heike Gibson, David Gordon, Trisha Copeland, Denise D'Agostino, Georgina Friedenberg, Claire Ridge, Vadim Bubes, Edward L Giovannucci, Walter C Willett, Julie E Buring, VITAL Research Group
The New England journal of medicine 2019 380(1):33-44

Bibliography

PubMed
PMID 30415629
PubMed Central
PMC6425757
DOI
10.1056/NEJMoa1809944
Trial registry
View on ClinicalTrials.gov Registered trial — results not yet published in a peer-reviewed journal.
Funding
Support is recorded from NCI NIH HHS, NIAMS NIH HHS, NIMH NIH HHS, NHLBI NIH HHS. See the original publication for grant and material-support details.
Competing interests
The publication includes author disclosures; consult the linked source for the individual relationships and their relevance.

Study snapshot

DesignRandomized controlled clinical trial
ModelHuman participants
Sample25,871 US adults: men aged 50+ and women aged 55+
InterventionVitamin D3 2,000 IU/day versus placebo in a factorial trial with omega-3
DurationMedian 5.3 years
EndpointsInvasive cancer; Major cardiovascular events; Mortality

What the study showed, in plain terms

This publication examines invasive cancer, major cardiovascular events, mortality. Study population or evidence base: 25,871 US adults: men aged 50+ and women aged 55+. Intervention or exposure: Vitamin D3 2,000 IU/day versus placebo in a factorial trial with omega-3.

Key findings

Vitamin D3 did not significantly reduce invasive cancer or major cardiovascular events in the overall VITAL population.

What this study can and cannot tell us

Participants were not selected for deficiency. These prevention results do not test treatment of established deficiency; related VITAL publications report outcomes in the same parent cohort.

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