Selenium and risk of bladder cancer: a population-based case-control study

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Nutritional Epidemiology
• Environmental Health

Background:

• Emerging research suggests selenium's potential role in cancer prevention.
• Bladder cancer risk factors and prevention strategies are of significant public health concern.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between toenail selenium concentrations and bladder cancer risk.
• To explore potential modifying effects of smoking, sex, and tumor p53 status on this association.

Main Methods:

• Population-based case-control study in New Hampshire.
• Analysis of 857 bladder cancer cases and 1,191 controls.
• Logistic regression modeling of toenail selenium levels, adjusting for confounders and stratifying by p53 expression.

Main Results:

• Overall, toenail selenium concentrations were not significantly associated with bladder cancer risk.
• Inverse associations were observed in moderate smokers, women, and individuals with p53-positive bladder cancers.
• Significant inverse trends were found for moderate smokers (P=0.004) and p53-positive cancers (P=0.01).

Conclusions:

• Selenium is not inversely related to overall bladder cancer risk.
• Selenium may have a preventive role in specific population subsets, such as women and moderate smokers.
• Selenium's potential preventive effect may be linked to certain tumor molecular phenotypes, like p53-positive cancers.