Aug 7, 2026 · 15 min · 13 segments
Editor's Summary by Linda Brubaker, MD, and Preeti Malani, MD, MSJ, Deputy Editors of JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association, for articles published from…
Preeti MalaniHostLinda BrubakerHost
First up is the SOLARIS randomized clinical trial, which is a phase three trial by Dr. Ng and colleagues from the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology.
The investigators focused on high-dose vitamin D3 for patients who are previously untreated for metastatic colorectal cancer.
Now, preclinical data supports the biologic basis for vitamin D's role as a potential antineoplastic agent in colorectal cancer, and several recent studies have produced signals that vitamin D supplementation could improve outcomes among this patient population.
This double-blind phase three trial enrolled four hundred and fifty-five patients from across the US with previously untreated metastatic colorectal cancer.
Patients received chemotherapy plus bevacizumab along with either high-dose or standard dose vitamin D3.
The primary outcome, median progression-free survival, was eleven point eight months with high-dose vitamin D3 and ten point three months with standard dose vitamin D3.
That difference was not enough to show any meaningful clinical benefit of high-dose vitamin D3.
Overall response rates to treatment, survival, and toxicity, as well as side effects, were also similar in both groups.
In a pre-specified subgroup analysis, there was a significant interaction for patients with left-sided tumors.
Although those participants who received high-dose vitamin D3 did have a significant improvement in progression-free survival, the authors emphasize that this finding is exploratory and requires further investigation.
So based on these results, high-dose vitamin D3 should not be added routinely for patients receiving treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer.
Preeti, I think the nuances in the secondary analysis and discussion make it sound like this won't be the last time we will hear about vitamin D and colorectal cancer.
First up is the SOLARIS randomized clinical trial, which is a phase three trial by Dr. Ng and colleagues from the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology.
The investigators focused on high-dose vitamin D3 for patients who are previously untreated for metastatic colorectal cancer.
Now, preclinical data supports the biologic basis for vitamin D's role as a potential antineoplastic agent in colorectal cancer, and several recent studies have produced signals that vitamin D supplementation could improve outcomes among this patient population.
This double-blind phase three trial enrolled four hundred and fifty-five patients from across the US with previously untreated metastatic colorectal cancer.
Patients received chemotherapy plus bevacizumab along with either high-dose or standard dose vitamin D3.
The primary outcome, median progression-free survival, was eleven point eight months with high-dose vitamin D3 and ten point three months with standard dose vitamin D3.
That difference was not enough to show any meaningful clinical benefit of high-dose vitamin D3.
Overall response rates to treatment, survival, and toxicity, as well as side effects, were also similar in both groups.
In a pre-specified subgroup analysis, there was a significant interaction for patients with left-sided tumors.
Although those participants who received high-dose vitamin D3 did have a significant improvement in progression-free survival, the authors emphasize that this finding is exploratory and requires further investigation.
So based on these results, high-dose vitamin D3 should not be added routinely for patients receiving treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer.
Preeti, I think the nuances in the secondary analysis and discussion make it sound like this won't be the last time we will hear about vitamin D and colorectal cancer.
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