US Pharm. 2011;36(Oncology/Hematology suppl):14.
The initial report of the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT) found that neither selenium nor vitamin E supplements reduced the risk for prostate cancer in healthy men randomized from 2001 to 2004, and follow-up of 5.46 years showed a statistically nonsignificant increased risk for prostate cancer among men who received vitamin E only (P = .06) and a statistically nonsignificant increased risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus in the men who received selenium only (P = .16). Recent updated analysis of SELECT published in the October 12 issue of JAMA, however, shows that vitamin E supplementation can significantly increase the risk for prostrate cancer. Men who received 400 IU/day of vitamin E had a 17% increased risk for prostate cancer than men who received placebo.
The SELECT trial of 35,533 men from 427 study sites in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico was conducted on the premise that selenium and vitamin E supplementation might reduce the risk for prostate cancer. The use of the supplements was halted in October 2008 because of an apparent lack of benefit and a possibility of harm.
