Evidence mounts supporting selenium as male insurance against prostate cancer

Citation

(2004), "Evidence mounts supporting selenium as male insurance against prostate cancer", Nutrition & Food Science, Vol. 34 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/nfs.2004.01734eab.001

Evidence mounts supporting selenium as male insurance against prostate cancer

Selenium is emerging as an important health insurance element against prostate cancer that no man should be without. Prostate cancer particularly affects men aged 50 and older but it is never too early to start protective action.

With 22,000 men per year in the UK being diagnosed as having prostate cancer taking a daily selenium supplement can be viewed as an easy and painless way of reducing the risk of this major cause of illness and death. At this stage it is impossible to say how many lives could be saved.

A series of articles in the February 2004 issue of the Journal of Urology tells of the growing evidence of the impact of selenium on prostate health. A large body of epidemiological evidence supports “the proposition that selenium may prevent prostate cancer in humans” writes US urologistDr E.A. Klein. The role of selenium as a constituent of antioxidant enzymes makes it a chemoprotective agent for prostate and other cancers.

The largest human trial involving selenium – The Selenium and Vitamin E Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial organised by the National Cancer Institute in the US – has already recruited more than half of the 32,000 men needed to evaluate the benefits.