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Vitamin E Found to Cut Prostate Cancer
Risk in Half
Hope for successfully treating prostate cancer mounts,
as findings provide evidence of a treatment with promising
results. High blood levels of alpha- and gamma-tocopherol--major
vitamin E components--appeared to reduce the risk of
prostate cancer by about 50 percent each.
These results are based on a study involving 100 individuals
with prostate cancer and 200 individuals without, participating
in the Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention
(ATBC) Study, which included nearly 30,000 men in all.
Not only did the study indicate that men with the highest
levels of alpha-tocopherol in their blood at baseline
were about 50 percent less likely to develop prostate
cancer than those with the lowest level of the vitamin,
but it also showed:
Men with highest levels of gamma-tocopherol were 43
percent less likely to develop the cancer, compared
with men with the lowest levels.
The connection between high tocopherol levels and low
cancer risk was stronger among individuals taking alpha-tocopherol
supplements compared to those not taking them.
These findings support those of the ATBC study, which
showed daily vitamin E supplementation cut prostate
cancer risk by 32 percent.
Vitamin E’s Antioxidant Properties
Because oxidative stress has been linked to the development
of prostate cancer, researchers believe it is vitamin
E’s antioxidant properties that may be the reason
for the studies’ findings.
Moreover, alpha-tocopherol has other non-antioxidant
properties, such as enhancement of the immune response,
which may also play a role in the benefits observed
of vitamin E.
Journal of the National Cancer Institute March 2, 2005;97(5):396-399
ABC News March 2, 2005
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