© 2001 by Oxford University Press
Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Vol. 93, No. 15, 1132,
August 1, 2001
© 2001 Oxford University Press
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Enrollment Begins for Largest-Ever Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial
In late July, the National Cancer Institute and the Southwest Oncology Group launched the first study designed to look directly at the effects of vitamin E and selenium, both separately and together, in preventing prostate cancer. The Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT) will enroll 32,000 men.
"The only way to determine the real value of these supplements for prostate cancer is to do a large clinical trial focused specifically on this disease," said Leslie Ford, M.D., associate director for clinical research in NCI’s Division of Cancer Prevention and the person who is responsible for all aspects of NCI’s involvement in SELECT.
A study of selenium to prevent nonmelanoma skin cancer in 1,000 men and women, reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1996 found that, although the supplement did not reduce skin cancer, there was a more than 60% decrease in the incidence of prostate cancer in men. In another trial, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute in 1998, beta carotene and vitamin E were tested to prevent lung cancer in 29,000 Finnish men who smoked. The study found that those who took vitamin E had 32% fewer prostate cancers.
More than 400 sites in the United States, Puerto Rico, and Canada, are recruiting participants for SELECT. Study investigators hope to recruit all the study participants during the first 5 years of the trial, so that each man can be followed for at least 7 years.
One of the chief concerns of researchers running the trial is that because both supplements are relatively inexpensive and easily available in stores, men may choose either not to enroll and take the supplements on their own or enroll but still take store-bought supplements that contain vitamin E and/or selenium.
To reduce the chances that men may get extra doses of these supplements, those who join SELECT must stop taking any supplements they buy themselves that contain selenium or vitamin E. If participants wish to take a multivitamin, the study will provide, without charge, a specially formulated one that does not contain selenium or vitamin E.
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  S. Wilkinson and G. W. Chodak Critical Review of Complementary Therapies for Prostate Cancer J. Clin. Oncol., June 1, 2003; 21(11): 2199 - 2210. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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