Rapid Response
Vitamin E and Prostate Cancer
Abstract
Wright et al1 recently published a prospective study that examined the relationship of vitamin E intake to prostate cancer (PC) risk in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study. Among 295,344 men who completed a questionnaire on diet, supplement use, and other factors, 10,241 developed prostate cancer during 5 years of follow-up. Proportional hazards models to estimate relative risks of prostate cancer suggest that supplemental vitamin E does not protect against PC, but that increased consumption of γ-tocopherol (an isoform of vitamin E) from foods is associated with a reduced risk of clinically relevant disease.1 Of note, the most commonly consumed form of vitamin E is γ-tocopherol, while the SELECT study (see below) is testing the use of α-tocopherol.This content is limited to qualifying members.
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References
1. Wright ME, Weinstein SJ, Lawson KA, et al. Supplemental and dietary vitamin E intakes and risk of prostate cancer in a large prospective study. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2007;16:1128–1135.
2. Heinonen OP, Albanes D, Virtamo J, et al. Prostate cancer and supplementation with alpha-tocopherol and beta-carotene: incidence and mortality in a controlled trial. J Natl Cancer Inst 1998;90:440–446.
3. Klein EA, Thompson IM, Lippman SM, et al. SELECT: the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial: rationale and design. Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis 2000;3:145–151.
