Get tested annually, once you are 50

Vitamin E and selenium supplements had offered hope of a cheaper treatment method against prostate cancer, but it turns out they do not prevent or lower the risk of the dreaded disease, according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

A safety panel reviewing the data amassed so far on SELECT (Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trials) study concluded that there was no benefit derived from treatments with both supplements — at least not in the types of formulations and/or the amount of dosage utilized in the trials. The panel therefore recommended a halt in the $114 million study, a recommendation which the NCI implemented last week.

The study, begun in 2001, was inspired by strong evidence generated in two previous studies where the primary outcome was not directed towards prostate cancer.

In 1998, a Finnish research study which wanted to test whether lung cancer could be prevented by regular dosage of vitamin E supplements in 30,000 smokers. The results showed no preventative effects from vitamin E, but curiously indicated that men taking vitamin E had 32 percent fewer prostate cancers.

In 1996, a study that showed selenium did not help to prevent skin cancer indicated instead that men who took selenium for more than six years showed 60 percent less new cases of prostate cancer.

If this treatment had worked, it would have brought immense relief (including financial) to a lot of people because the reduction of prostate cancer risk would have occurred by using relatively cheap medicine that people could buy over the counter.

Unfortunately, it did not. On the contrary, the safety panel said there was an entirely unexpected rise in incidence of tumors among some men being treated with vitamin E and an increase in adult-onset diabetes among some men being treated with selenium. Neither observation was statistically significant and could easily have happened by chance; however, it did show the treatments were not working against prostate cancer.

The 35,000 men had been taking the supplements every day since 2001. There were for treatment modes: 400 milligrams of Vitamin E and 200 micrograms of selenium; vitamin E plus selenium placebo; selenium plus vitamin E placebo, and placebos alone.

The participants in the study will continue to be monitored and to receive regular check-ups over the next three years. The investigators will study the long-term effects of having undergone the various treatments and also to complete their collection of blood samples for more comprehensive molecular analyses.

One in six men in the United States is found positive for prostate cancer. The disease also claims nearly 30,000 lives each year. Men over age 50 and African-American men are most at risk for prostate cancer.

Safety Tips:

* Get annual tests for prostate cancer once you reach age 50. If there is a history of prostate cancer in your family, begin testing earlier, at age 45.