Deaths from several common cancers could be cut by half within five years if the majority of people took a vitamin D supplement, saving billions of pounds a year in medical costs, according to scientists.

A report from researchers in America claims that instead of hunting for the different reasons for various cancers, “a new era of public health” could be brought in by simply giving people 2,000 units of vitamin D per day.

The findings have considerable implications for Scotland, where a lack of sunshine commonly causes serious vitamin D deficiency. Health experts in Scotland are calling for a large trial of vitamin D supplementation.

Frank Garland, from the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine at the University of California, believes that cancer is caused by the proliferation of cells that occurs when there is a shortage of vitamin D and calcium.

“If our model is correct there is no longer a pressing need to search for a strong carcinogen to account for each cancer. Many cancers may arise in the absence of carcinogens solely as a failure of the junctions between cells followed by rapid growth and selection,” Professor Garland said.

“Our studies provide the scientific basis for a new era of public health action using 2,000 units of vitamin D per day with adequate calcium to reduce incidence and mortality from cancer. The time to act is now, before more new cases occur and more lives are needlessly lost to a readily preventable disease.”

Another recent report by Bill Grant, a former Nasa scientist, published in Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology, estimates that 17 countries in Europe could save €187billion (£167billion) a year if the level of vitamin D were substantially increased in the general population.

To achieve this saving, most people would have to take a vitamin D pill daily, weekly or monthly, or eat common food items such as bread and milk fortified with vitamin D. At present the action of sun on skin is our major source of vitamin D, but the dull climate in Scotland, as in other parts of the northern hemisphere, means that many people receive insufficient vitamin D.

Professor Garland, and his brother, Cedric, recommend that every cancer patient should have their vitamin D tested and brought up to a high normal range. This is the natural high level that is found in people who live an outdoor life in sunny countries and can be achieved by taking 50,000 units of vitamin D per week for eight to twelve weeks followed by maintenance on 1,000 to 2,000 units a day. They also recommend, in the paper published in Clinical Review of Bone and Mineral Metabolism, an increased calcium intake, which is important in Scotland where water is generally soft.

Evidence showing that vitamin D can prevent disease has built up dramatically over the past five years. A group of California scientists and doctors led by the Garland brothers have shown that death rates from colon, breast and ovarian cancer could be reduced by 75 per cent if enough vitamin D was consumed nationally. Evidence from other studies suggests that some 15 other cancers could also be largely prevented. In addition vitamin D has been shown to reduce heart disease, stroke, diabetes, arthritis and multiple sclerosis.

At least 25 trials of vitamin D as an adjunct to treatments for various cancers are in progress. At the Royal Marsden Hospital, in London, Chris Parker, a senior consultant, is near to completion of a trial of 4,000 units of vitamin D per day for men with prostate cancer.

In the US, some doctors consider it best practice to ensure that cancer patients have an optimum level of vitamin D.

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