The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has decided to stop part of a study examining whether supplementary selenium and vitamin E prevent prostate cancer after preliminary results suggested that the supplements may actually be increasing the participants’ risk of developing the disease.
More than 35,000 men aged 50 and over are taking part in the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT). However, the NCI has written to study participants telling them to stop taking the supplements after an initial review of trial data showed that selenium and vitamin E supplements, taken either alone or together, do not prevent prostate cancer.
The data also revealed a “small but not statistically significant increase” in the number of prostate cancer cases among participants taking vitamin E alone, and a “small, but not statistically significant increase” in cases of type 2 diabetes in men taking selenium alone. However, the NCI stressed that “neither of these findings proves an increased risk from the supplements and both may be due to chance.”
News release: Review of prostate cancer prevention study shows no benefit for use of selenium and vitamin E supplements. National Cancer Institute. October 27th 2008.
