Vitamin D may ease cancer treatment skin toxicity

Most patients reported symptom relief within 10 days, while 73% continued anticancer therapy without interruption.

By
Andrea Surnit
September 30, 2026
4 min

MDSpire News

Overview

High-dose oral vitamin D demonstrated rapid improvement in skin toxicities associated with chemotherapy and radiation in a multicenter case series.

Background

Chemotherapy and radiation therapy often lead to significant skin toxicities, which can interrupt cancer treatment. This study explores the potential role of high-dose vitamin D as a supportive care measure in this context.

Data Highlights

Outcome	Results
Patients reporting symptom relief	26 of 30 (87%)
Clinician-assessed improvement	23 of 30 (77%)
Median time to improvement	5 days
Mean erythema score reduction	4.36 to 2.21
Patients continuing anticancer therapy	24 of 33 (73%)

Key Findings

High-dose oral vitamin D (100,000 IU) was administered to 33 patients with chemotherapy- and radiation-associated skin toxicities.
87% of patients reported subjective symptom relief within 10 days.
Clinician-assessed improvement in erythema was noted in 77% of patients.
Mean erythema scores decreased significantly from baseline to day 10.
No treatment-related adverse events or meaningful changes in serum calcium were observed.

Clinical Implications

Further research is warranted to establish the efficacy and optimal dosing of high-dose oral vitamin D for managing skin toxicities in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and radiation.

Conclusion

Further investigation in controlled trials is needed to assess the effects of high-dose oral vitamin D on skin toxicities related to cancer treatments.