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[Selenium therapy in colorectal tumors?]
1Interdisziplinäres Therapiezentrum Weissenburg, Rehabilitationsklinik für Onkologie und Rheumatologie, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena.
Background:
Is the complementary supplementation of selenium useful in the therapy of colorectal cancer?
Patients And Methods:
Fifty-three patients with primary colorectal cancer received a selenium treatment for 19 days in addition to a complete in-patient rehabilitation cure based on a behavioural approach. A comparative control group consisted of 41 patients. Measured factors were the selenium content in serum and whole blood, GSH-Px activity and TBARS in serum. Both the intake of selenium by nutrition and the patients' life quality were determined additionally on day 1 and 19. The tumor marker CA 19-9 was measured only on day 1.
Results:
A latent selenium deficiency was observed while gsh-px activity or concentration of TBARS were normal. The selenium status corresponds to the concentration of the tumor marker CA 19-9. The selenium status improves through supplementation, accompanied by a further increase of GSH-Px activity. During supplementation the patients' life quality improves; subjective physical complaints decrease.
Conclusion:
Further research will be necessary on both the dependency of the selenium status on the tumor marker concentration and on the development of the cancer. Optimum GSH-Px activity and individually different responses also need additional investigation. The influence of selenium on the patients' life quality should be investigated in the context of immunomodulation.