Oral Vitamin D Associated With Faster Recovery From Cancer Therapy Skin Toxicities
Key Takeaways
- High-dose oral vitamin D was associated with rapid symptomatic and clinical improvement in patients with chemotherapy-related toxic erythema and acute radiation dermatitis in a multicenter case series.
- Most patients experienced symptom relief within 10 days, with a median time to improvement of 5 days, and no treatment-related adverse events or clinically meaningful changes in serum calcium were reported.
- The authors said the retrospective findings support prospective studies evaluating high-dose vitamin D as a supportive care strategy in oncodermatology.
High-dose oral vitamin D may offer a promising supportive care option for patients experiencing chemotherapy- and radiation-induced skin toxicities, according to a multicenter case series in JAMA Dermatology.
Researchers retrospectively evaluated 33 patients treated with high-dose vitamin D (100,000 IU cholecalciferol or ergocalciferol) for toxic erythema of chemotherapy (TEC) or acute radiation dermatitis (ARD) across three academic medical centers between 2021 and 2024. The study assessed clinical response, time to improvement, and safety in patients who had at least 10 days of follow-up.
Rapid Symptom Relief Observed in Most Patients
Among the 33 patients (mean age, 60.9 years; 58% female), 28 had TEC and five had ARD. Overall, 26 of 30 evaluable patients (87%) reported symptomatic improvement within 10 days of treatment. The median time to improvement was 5 days overall and just 3 days among hospitalized patients.
Clinician-assessed erythema also improved substantially, with mean 5-point Likert scores decreasing from 4.36 at baseline to 2.21 by day 10. The most rapid responses were observed in patients with neutrophilic eccrine hidradenitis and Stevens-Johnson syndrome/toxic epidermal necrolysis-like presentations.
Investigators also reported favorable safety findings. No clinically meaningful changes in serum calcium were detected, no treatment-related adverse events occurred, and 24 patients (73%) were able to continue their anticancer therapy without interruption following vitamin D treatment.
The authors noted severe cutaneous toxicities frequently lead to treatment delays or discontinuation in oncology care.
"In this case series, hdVD was associated with rapid symptomatic and objective improvement in chemotherapy- and radiation-induced toxic effects of the skin without treatment-related adverse events," the authors wrote. "These findings support further study of hdVD as a supportive care approach in oncodermatology."
Source
Patil M, et al. JAMA Dermatology. 2026. Doi:10.1001/jamadermatol.2026.2267