Healthy levels of vitamin D may help patients with a certain type of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma live longer. Researchers at the Mayo Clinic have discovered that patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and low vitamin D levels are two times more likely to die from the cancer than patients with optimal levels. Deficient vitamin D levels also increased the chances of cancer progression.

"These are some of the strongest findings yet between vitamin D and cancer outcome," Matthew Drake, MD, PhD, an endocrinologist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., says in a news release.

WebMD by Kelli Miller Stacy, 12/7/09

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Tags: Cancer, Hematology, lymphoma, vitamin D