NCI Stops Study on Selenium, E for Prostate Health

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) is halting the SELECT study involving more than 35,000 men, which was looking at whether vitamin E and selenium could prevent prostate cancer, after initial results suggested no benefit, and possible increase in incidence of prostate cancer in men taking just vitamin E.

Andrew Shao, Ph.D., vice president, scientific and regulatory affairs, at the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), responded to INSIDER’s request for comment on the news: “CRN, along with everyone involved with the SELECT Trial, would have liked to have seen results demonstrating that vitamin E, selenium, or a combination of the two supplements, prevented prostate cancer. Naturally, we’re disappointed with [this] announcement, but this study does not discount the value of taking vitamin E and selenium for the other general benefits these supplements may provide. We’re hopeful that some of the sub-studies may produce promising results and we applaud the researchers and the National Cancer Institute for undertaking such an ambitious trial. However, before any conclusions can be drawn, we would like to see the full study. With regard to questions about the safety of vitamin E and selenium, without having seen the data, we can’t draw any conclusions, but as the researchers have pointed out, the trends were not statistically significant and may be due to chance.”