Recent research published in Tumour Biology has found evidence that vitamin D selectively causes cell death in cancerous cells by interacting with copper ions and producing DNA-damaging free radicals.

Vitamin D has been shown in both in vitro and in vivo studies to have anticancer properties, such as selectively instructing malignant cells to die. Vitamin D deficiency has also been shown to be associated with increased risk of developing certain cancers, such as prostate and colorectal cancers.

However the mechanisms of the anticancer actions of vitamin D at the cellular level have not been fully understood.