Vitamin E Linked to Prostate Cancer

BETHESDA, Md.Prior to 2001, research had indicated that vitamin E and selenium reduced the risk of developing prostate cancer. Fast forward to 2008 and new research that found the two supplements did not reduce the risk and, in the case of vitamin E alone, may even increase risk of developing the disease. Now, an update of the 2008 study indicates that men who took 400 I.U. of vitamin E daily had more prostate cancers compared to men who took a placebo.

The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), offers an updated review of data from the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT). The findings show that, per 1,000 men, there were 76 prostate cancers in men who took only vitamin E supplements, compared to 65 in men on placebo over a seven-year period, a 17 percent increase in prostate cancers.

"Based on these results and the results of large cardiovascular studies using vitamin E, there is no reason for men in the general population to take the dose of vitamin E used in SELECT as the supplements have shown no benefit and some very real risks," said Eric Klein, M.D., a study co-chair for SELECT, and a physician at the Cleveland Clinic.

"SELECT has definitively shown a lack of benefit from vitamin E and selenium supplements in the prevention of prostate cancer and has shown there is the potential for harm," said Lori Minasian, M.D., study co-author and acting director of NCI's Division of Cancer Prevention. "Nevertheless, this type of research has been critically important to understanding the potential benefits and risks from supplements."