Serum selenium and risk of prostate cancer-a nested case-control study

Area of Science:

• Nutritional biochemistry
• Cancer chemoprevention
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Selenium, an essential trace element, possesses antioxidant properties via selenoenzymes, suggesting potential chemopreventive roles in prostate cancer.
• The interplay between selenium, other antioxidants, and lifestyle factors like smoking in prostate cancer development remains incompletely understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between serum selenium concentrations and the risk of developing prostate cancer.
• To explore potential interactions between serum selenium, dietary vitamin E, multivitamin use, and smoking status in relation to prostate cancer risk.

Main Methods:

• A nested case-control study design was employed within the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial.
• Serum selenium levels were measured in 724 incident prostate cancer cases and 879 matched controls, with a follow-up period of up to 8 years.

Main Results:

• Overall, serum selenium was not significantly associated with prostate cancer risk.
• A reduced risk of prostate cancer was observed in individuals with higher serum selenium who also had high vitamin E intake (OR: 0.58), used multivitamins (OR: 0.61), or were smokers (OR: 0.65).
• Significant interactions were found between serum selenium and vitamin E intake (P=0.01), multivitamin use (P=0.05), and smoking (P=0.007).

Conclusions:

• Prediagnostic serum selenium concentrations were not broadly associated with a lower risk of prostate cancer in this cohort.
• Higher serum selenium may confer a reduced risk of prostate cancer specifically in subgroups, including those with high vitamin E intake, multivitamin users, and smokers.