Vitamin B6 May Reduce Risk of Colon Cancer 36676

Vitamin B6 May Reduce Risk of Colon Cancer

BOSTON--Vitamin B6 supplementation appears to reduce risk of coloncancer by 58 percent and colorectal cancer by 44 percent, according to a newstudy from Harvard Medical School published in Journal of the National CancerInstitute (9, 97:684-692, 2005) (http://jncicancerspectrum.oupjournals.org).

Researchers analyzed the blood of nearly 33,000 women who provided bloodspecimens for the Nurses' Health Study in 1989, between 30 and 55 years of agewhen enrolled, for blood levels of pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP), the primaryactive form of vitamin B6 in blood. Researchers found the study group laterdeveloped 194 cases of colorectal cancer and 410 cases of colon polyps. Todetermine whether PLP had an effect on these conditions, participants' bloodresults were divided into four groups from lowest to highest blood levels ofPLP; the highest quartile group showed a 44 percent lower risk of colorectalcancer and colorectal polyps and a 58 percent lower risk of colon cancer andcolon polyps. The highest intake group had a median of 8.6 mg/d of PLP comparedto 1.6 mg/d in the lowest intake group, near the RDA of B6 for adult men andwomen (2.0 mg/d and 1.6 mg/d, respectively).

The scientists/researchers concluded vitamin B6 supplementation may beassociated with lower risk of colon cancer and colorectal cancer formation.