Very often we see men popping vitamin E pills and initially it was assumed that such supplements could cut cancer risk too. On a contradicting note, scientists at Cleveland Clinic have revealed that vitamin E supplements could elevate prostate cancer risk.
The experts examined 35,000 men who consumed about 400 IU of vitamin E everyday from 2001 to 2008. The subjects were categorized into 4 groups, vitamin E and selenium, just vitamin E, only selenium and placebo.
“For the typical man, there appears to be no benefit in taking vitamin E, and in fact, there may be some harm,†commented Dr. Klein, an internationally renowned prostate cancer expert who served as the national study coordinator.
Apparently, significant number of cancer cases were seen in the vitamin E group. Moreover, there were 17% more cases of prostate cancer in the aforesaid group as compared to the placebo set.
Prostate cancer is becoming very prominent among men in the U. S with the present lifetime risk coming up to 16%. Experts have estimated that in 2011, there will be 240,000 new cases and 33,000 deaths in the U.S.
This trial is known as the selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT) that spans across the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rica. Eric Klein, MD, chair of the Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute at Cleveland Clinic, is the lead author of the analysis.
The findings are published in the October 12 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.