Plasma Selenium Not Associated with Prostate Cancer

According to a recent study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, plasma selenium concentration were not associated with prostate cancer risk in a large cohort of European men (DOI:10.3945/ajcn.2008.26205). Researchers investigated the association of plasma selenium concentration with subsequent prostate cancer risk. A nested case-control study was performed among men in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). The association between plasma selenium concentration and prostate cancer risk was assessed in 959 men with incident prostate cancer and 1,059 matched controls.

Overall, plasma selenium concentration was not associated with prostate cancer risk; the multivariate relative risk for men in the highest fifth of selenium concentration compared with the lowest fifth was 0.96 (P for trend = 0.25). There were no significant differences in the association of plasma selenium with risk when analyzed by stage or grade of disease. Similarly, the association of selenium with risk did not differ by smoking status or by plasma alpha- or gamma-tocopherol concentration.