Health of the man > Cancer of the prostate

Health of the man > Cancer of the prostate

Vitamin E, selenium and cancer of the prostate: bad news?

To determine the protective effect of selenium and the vitamin E with respect to the cancer of the prostate, a great study of intervention, study SELECT (Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Trial Prevention), was carried out recently. The preliminary results of the study are unfortunately not positive.

Why be interested in the vitamin E and, especially, selenium in the development of the cancer of the prostate? In fact, selenium plays a key function in the whole of the organization. Its action seems to be encouraged by the vitamin E, and the interest of this duet in the fight against cancer was already evoked by some studies. However, the results remained soft, and there remain several unknown factors in connection with selenium. One does not know yet the amount to which its protection is effective… and we have even evil to define the selenium content of various food.

Variable concentrations

It is true that selenium is a particular trace element. According to the ground where a plant will have been cultivated, according to the pasture where an animal will have been raised, the selenium content of food that one will draw some varies. The cereals cultivated in North America for example definitely richer in selenium than those are cultivated in Europe, which would explain the relative deficiencies of the European selenium populations, even if one should not generalize. The independent sources of selenium in the food are the meat (ox, turkey, meat offals), the fish (tuna, sardines, cod), the complete cereals (rice, corn), garlic, the onion, the vegetables crucifères (cabbage flower, broccoli), and the mushrooms.

Prostate: stupor and tremors

On the whole, in this new study, 35.000 50 years old men and more were divided into 4 groups: a receiving group of selenium and the vitamin E, a receiving group of selenium and a placebo, a group receiving a placebo and vitamin E, and finally a group receiving the 2 placebos.
Verdict, after 5 years of follow-up: the consumption of supplements of vitamin E and selenium, taken only or in combination, does not prevent the appearance of the cancer of the prostate.
On the other hand, these data show two tendencies: a light nonsignificant increase in the number of cancer of the prostate among the individuals consuming only the supplement in vitamin E, and a weak nonsignificant increase in the number of cases of diabetes at the men taking only the selenium supplement.

Prudence and new research

Since they are preliminary analyzes, none of these results proves that a consumption of these supplements induces an increase in the cancer risk of the prostate.
But within sight of the results, it was requested from the participants to stop their treatment. They will continue to be followed during 3 years in order to evaluate the long-term effects of the supplementation in vitamin E and selenium. To follow…