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SELECT further confirmed: Vitamin E, selenium, soy did not prevent prostate cancer progression
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American Urological Association Annual Meeting
Vitamin E, selenium and soy did not prevent progression from high-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia to prostate cancer, according to the results of a randomized, double blind, phase-3 study presented at the American Urological Association Annual Meeting.
“Unfortunately, as this study shows, we have yet to find a dietary supplement that will reliably prevent prostate cancer,” Christopher Amling, MD, professor and director in the division of urology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, said in a press release.
The researchers randomly assigned 303 men to daily treatment with 40 g per day soy protein, 800 IU per day vitamin E and 200 mcg per day selenium or placebo for three years. The median age of patients was 62.8 years.
Invasive prostate cancer was observed in 26.4% of patients. The HR was 1.03 (95% CI, 0.67-1.60) for the nutritional supplement to prevent prostate cancer.
Baseline age, weight, PSA and testosterone did not predict progression to invasive prostate cancer, according to the researchers. Other than flatulence being reported more frequently among men assigned to micronutrient mix, the supplement was well tolerated.
“The results of this study support the findings of the SELECT trial, which also demonstrated no benefit using vitamin E and selenium,” Amling said. “These studies highlight the importance of conducting randomized trials of these agents since many of these supplements are promoted falsely to the general public as having beneficial effects on cancer prevention and progression.”
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