Excess Vitamin B12 May Serve As a Warning Sign For Aggressive Cancer
- Aug 3
- 3 min read
A vitamin essential to the body may also reveal hidden signs of aggressive cancer. Scientists have discovered a surprising link between high levels of vitamin B12 and a worse prognosis in colon cancer.
Colon cancer is among the most common and deadly types of cancer in the world. Even with significant advances in diagnosis and treatment in recent decades, thousands of people still die every year from the disease, especially when it spreads to other organs, such as the liver and lungs. Therefore, scientists are constantly searching for signs in the body that can help identify more aggressive cases and predict which patients are at higher risk of complications.
Now, a new international study has drawn attention to a surprising link involving vitamin B12, a nutrient known primarily for its importance to blood, nerves, and brain function.
Vitamin B12 is essential for the human body and participates in DNA formation and the production of new cells. However, researchers began to realize that very high levels of this vitamin in the blood can also appear in people with some types of cancer. This raised an important question: could high levels of vitamin B12 serve as a warning sign for more aggressive tumors?
To investigate this possibility, scientists analyzed medical data from over 37,000 colon cancer patients using a vast international database that compiles hospital information from various healthcare institutions.
The researchers selected patients who had undergone vitamin B12 tests close to the time of their cancer diagnosis. They then divided the participants into three groups: people with low, normal, and high levels of the vitamin in their blood.
After this separation, the researchers monitored several important clinical outcomes. They compared patient survival time, checked if the cancer had spread to other organs, and analyzed tests related to liver function.
In addition, the scientists also studied samples of tumor tissue and healthy tissue to investigate genes linked to the use of vitamin B12 by cancer cells. The goal was to understand if the tumor might be using this vitamin in some way to promote its growth.
The results were concerning. Patients with high levels of vitamin B12 had a shorter average survival time compared to those with normal or low levels. Furthermore, these patients also showed a higher risk of metastasis, meaning a greater chance that the cancer had already spread to organs such as the liver, lungs, and abdominal cavity.
The scientists also observed that tumors in patients with a worse prognosis showed greater activity of a gene related to vitamin B12 metabolism, suggesting that cancer may use this nutrient to sustain its accelerated growth.
The authors emphasize that the study does not mean that vitamin B12 directly causes cancer. The vitamin remains essential for the healthy functioning of the body. What the results suggest is that very high levels of the vitamin in the blood may act as a possible warning marker for more aggressive cases of colon cancer.
According to the researchers, in the future, vitamin B12 tests may help doctors identify patients who need closer monitoring and more intensive treatments.
READ MORE:
Association between Vitamin B12 Levels and Colon Cancer Survival: A Global Network Study
Bruce Chang-Gu, George Golovko, Anthony P. D’Andrea, and Kamil Khanipov
Cancer Research Communications (2026) 6 (2): 302-309.
Abstract:
Recent studies have reported a link between elevated B12 levels and increased incidence of malignancies. In this study, we compare the association between B12 levels and adverse outcomes in colon cancer, including metastases and mortality. A globally federated multi-institutional database identified patients with colon cancer who had at least one B12 measurement within 1 year of diagnosis. Patients were stratified by B12 status (normal: 300–1,000, elevated: >1,000, and low: <300 pg/mL). Median overall survival (mOS) was compared via log-rank test and Cox proportional hazards models. The incidence of cancer metastases and elevated liver enzymes within 1 year of diagnosis was analyzed and compared using risk ratios. Further gene expression analysis of 283 colon cancer samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and 304 normal colon tissues from the Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) project was performed. A total of 37,106 patients were identified by TriNetX. High B12 (n = 6,523; mOS = 59.4 months) was associated with a decreased mOS compared with normal (n = 23,965; mOS = 129.8 months) and low (n = 5,167; mOS = 137.3 months) B12 patients. Patients with elevated B12 had higher metastatic involvement and tumor stage at diagnosis and a higher 1-year incidence of all metastases, liver, lung, and peritoneal metastases [risk ratio with 95% confidence intervals of 1.30 (1.24–1.36), 1.56 (1.45–1.68), 1.43 (1.27–1.61), 1.39 (1.24–1.55), respectively]. Gene expression analysis of TCGA and GTEx identified the expression of the B12-dependent methionine synthase (MTR) to be elevated in colon cancer tissue, and increased MTR expression was associated with decreased colon cancer survival (65.8 months vs. undefined). These findings identify the potential clinical relevance of B12 as a biomarker for colon cancer metastases and survival.
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