New Study Examines Antioxidant Impact On Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer as one of the most common types of cancer in men
according to the American Cancer Society Fortunately if caught
early, the prognosis is good Even better than treating it, is
of course, avoiding it altogether The search for the cause of
prostate cancer is ongoing and a recent study was recently
completed
An eight year study of 29,361 men has just been completed The
study examined the impact of antioxidant supplements on the rate
of prostate cancer “There has been definite interest in their
use, based on a few earlier studies that have been done” said
lead researcher Richard B Hayes, senior investigator in the
division of cancer epidemiology and genetics at the US
National Cancer Institute
Reporting in the Feb 15 issue of the Journal of the National
Cancer Institute, Hayes’ team calculated the risk of prostate
cancer for 29,361 men aged 55 to 74, all of whom were
participants in the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian
(PLCO) Screening Trial
Some of the data that was analyzed included the amount of common
antioxidant supplements including vitamin C, beta carotene, and
vitamin E Some of the men had been taking these supplements for
many years prior to the study
Over the total eight year study period, 1,338 men developed
prostate cancer The results indicate that the use of
antioxidant supplements had no positive impact on the risk for
prostate cancer for most nonsmokers Beta carotene supplements
did have a positive impact among men that had low dietary intake
of beta carotene
Vitamin E did have a positive impact for smokers according to
the research This was consistent with previous trials Although
the three supplements studied in this trial showed little help
in preventing prostate cancer, previous trials that examined
other supplements did show very encouraging results
Fish oils, which contain EPA and DHA, were found to reduce
prostate cancer by 11% in men that consumed about 470 mg/day
Selenium has been found to cut prostate cancer in half Over
five clinical trials have supported this It is recommended that
men take a 200 micrograms of selenium daily
Screening is always recommended to detect any early signs of
prostate cancer The two tests used are a blood test and rectal
exam If cancer is detected in the early stages, the prognosis
is good

Tags | antioxidant, beta, carotene, colorectal, definite, dietary, epidemiology, intake, national, nonsmokers, period, selenium, society, types