Selenium may cut prostate cancer risk in some men

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Despite widespread interest in selenium for warding off prostate cancer, a new study shows that a high blood level of selenium is not in itself generally associated with reduced prostate cancer risk.

However, the findings reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition do indicate that high selenium levels may be protective in certain subgroups of men.

Dr. Ulrike Peters, of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, and colleagues conducted a study with subjects who were screened for the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial.

The team compared selenium in blood samples collected before diagnosis from 724 subjects who developed prostate cancer and from a comparison group of 879 similar men who remained free of the disease.

All participants completed a questionnaire at enrollment regarding age, ethnicity, education, occupation, smoking history, history of cancer and other diseases, use of selected drugs, and prostate related health factors.

A 137-item food-frequency questionnaire was used to assess usual dietary intake over the 12 months before enrollment. The men were followed for up to 8 years.

Overall, the researchers found no association between serum selenium and prostate cancer risk. However, higher serum selenium correlated with a lower likelihood of prostate cancer in men who reported a high vitamin E intake (more than the average of 28 IU per day) and those taking multivitamins.

Also, for smokers, high selenium levels appeared to reduce their prostate cancer risk.

SOURCE: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, January 2007.