Preliminary SELECT Study Results are Misleading!
   by James Occhiogrosso, N.D.

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Last week the National Cancer Institute (NCI) released preliminary results from the ongoing SELECT trial that stated that vitamin E and selenium do not protect against prostate cancer.  Study participants are being sent a letter that explains these initial preliminary results and tells them to stop taking their study supplements.

Isn’t it amazing that results of any study reporting a negative effect of a natural substance are immediately picked up and distributed everywhere by the news media?  Last week’s news spurred headlines like:

• News-Medical.Net:  Selenium and vitamin E supplements do not prevent prostate cancer
• CBS News: Vitamin E - A Flop in Prostate Cancer Trial
• Los Angeles Times: Vitamin E, Selenium Fail to Prevent Prostate Cancer
• Medical News Today: Prostate Cancer Risk Did Not Reduce With Vitamin E And Selenium
• Medscape: Vitamin E and Selenium Do Not Prevent Prostate Cancer; Use of the Supplements Stopped in Large-Scale Study

Food for thought — when was the last time you saw a headline that extolled the benefits of some vitamin, herb, or other natural substance.  It seems like the news media mindlessly reproduces propaganda fed them by sources funded by the pharmaceutical industry, thus rarely reporting anything positive about any natural substance. 

There are thousands of studies that confirm the value of both natural vitamin E and selenium for increased immune response and preventing cancer as well as other chronic illnesses.  In my book, I devote several pages to vitamin E and selenium and cite numerous published, peer-reviewed studies on both substances showing benefit for many diseases, and particularly for preventing prostate cancer.  I’ve also published a companion article to this one titled “Natural Vitamin E, Selenium and Prostate Health”.  It is a condensed excerpt of a few pages from my book, along with references.  

So then, why is this large study showing such negative results?  Well to put it bluntly, it is a study that was designed to fail.  First, the end point was to show a twenty-five percent reduction in the incidence of prostate cancer due to the supplements.  Since early data projected a failure to meet this arbitrary endpoint, the trial was stopped. Second, the SELECT trial used a synthetic form of vitamin E (dl-alpha-tocopherol). This type of synthetic vitamin E is poorly absorbed by the body, and has little antioxidant activity. Third, the dosage level was too low even if a natural form was used.  Fourth, vitamin E is actually a family of vitamins that consists of eight parts, each with different activity in the body. Using just one fraction of synthetic vitamin E negates any possible benefits. Fifth, the study authors did not account for men in the study taking statin (cholesterol lowering) medications.  It is well known that statin drugs interfere with the body’s utilization of selenium, an important trace mineral.  For the technically savvy amongst you, search the Internet using the search term statins and selenium.       

One of the conclusions of another long-term trial, the fifteen-year Nurses Health Study, was that consumption of nuts resulted in a reduction of thirty percent in coronary heart disease (CHD). [1]  Guess which nutrients nuts have in abundance—natural vitamin E and selenium.  Several later studies also confirmed this benefit.  It defies all reasonable logic to exclude a substance like natural vitamin E—with proven benefits for coronary heart disease and other chronic illnesses—from a study as important as the SELECT trial! 

As far as prostate problems—I strongly believe that supplementation with natural vitamin E (all eight fractions), along with selenium, and zinc offers significant protection.  The research I reviewed while writing my book convinced me that Vitamin E, selenium, zinc, and some other nutrients are not optional, but mandatory for prostate health.  I plan on continuing my selenium and vitamin E supplementation.  See my article “Natural Vitamin E, Selenium, Zinc and Prostate Health” or purchase my book for more detailed information.