Vitamin D supplementation to palliative cancer patients: protocol of a double-blind, randomised controlled trial 'Palliative-D'.

What Was Tested

The paper reports a study of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc, published as a randomized controlled trial.

Who Took Part

The study group was 254 patients.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter and pilot study.

Because people in this Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

Blinding on both sides kept the patients and researchers unaware of who received Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc.

Some patients received a placebo instead of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc, giving a reference point.

Running at several centres spread the Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc study over different clinics and patient groups.

A randomised, double-blind placebo-controlled multicentre trial has been designed.

The study will start in November 2017 and will finish in December 2019.

The study is approved by the Regional Ethical Committee, Dnr2017/405-31/1, by the Swedish Medical Products Agency, EudraCT: 2017-000268-14, and is registered at Clinicaltrial.gov: NCT03038516.

The study is financed with research grants from the Swedish Cancer Society and the Stockholm County Council.

What Was Measured

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Analgesics, Opioid, Anti-Bacterial Agents, Dietary Supplements, Neoplasms, Pain Management, Palliative Care and Quality of Life.

Author keywords: hospice care, infections and vitamin D.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc in 254 patients.

The publication is from 2017 (BMJ supportive & palliative care), a journal based in England.

More context: the Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc compound page, all human trials.