Certain vitamin supplements may increase lung cancer risk, especially in smokers

February 29, 2008

Vitamin supplements do not protect against lung cancer, according to a study of more than 77,000 vitamin users. In fact, some supplements may even increase the risk of developing it.

“Our study of supplemental multivitamins, vitamin C, vitamin E and folate did not show any evidence for a decreased risk of lung cancer,” wrote the study’s author, Christopher G. Slatore, M.D., of the University of Washington, in Seattle. “Indeed, increasing intake of supplemental vitamin E was associated with a slightly increased risk of lung cancer.”

The findings were published in the first issue for March of the American Thoracic Society’s American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

Dr. Slatore and colleagues selected a prospective cohort of 77,126 men and women between 50 and 76 years of age in the Washington state VITAL (VITamins And Lifestyle) study, and determined their rate of developing lung cancer over four years with respect to their current and past vitamin usage, smoking, and other demographic and medical characteristics.

Of the original cohort, 521 developed lung cancer, the expected rate for a low-risk cohort such as VITAL. But among those who developed lung cancer, in addition to the unsurprising associations with smoking history, family history, and age, there was a slight but significant association between use of supplemental vitamin E and lung cancer.

“In contrast to the often assumed benefits or at least lack of harm, supplemental vitamin E was associated with a small increased risk of lung cancer,” said Dr. Slatore.

When modeled continuously, the increased risk was equivalent to a seven percent rise for every 100 mg/day. “This risk translates into a 28 percent increased risk of lung cancer at a dose of 400 mg/day for ten years,” wrote Dr. Slatore. The increased risk was most prominent in current smokers.

The idea that vitamin supplements are healthy, or at the very least, do no harm, comes from the desire of many people to mimic the benefits of a healthy diet with a convenient pill says Tim Byers, M.D., M.P.H., of the University of Colorado School of Medicine in an editorial in the same issue of the journal. However, he points out, “fruits contain not only vitamins but also many hundreds of other phytochemical compounds whose functions are not well understood.”

The World Cancer Research Fund and the American Cancer Society recommend two servings of fruit each day, based on a study that previously found a 20 percent increase in cancer risk among people who ate the least amount of fruit. This recommendation “would likely lead to a reduced risk for lung cancer, as well as reduced risk of several other cancers and cardiovascular disease,” writes Dr. Byers. “However, any benefit to the population of smokers from increasing fruit intake to reduce cancer risk by 20 percent would be more than offset if even a small proportion of smokers decided to continue tobacco use in favor of such a diet change.”

These findings have broad public health implications, given the large population of current and former smokers and the widespread use of vitamin supplements. “Future studies may focus on other components of fruits and vegetables that may explain the decreased risk [of cancer] that has been associated with fruits and vegetables,” writes Dr. Slatore. “Meanwhile,” he says, “our results should prompt clinicians to counsel patients that these supplements are unlikely to reduce the risk of lung cancer and may be detrimental.”

Source: American Thoracic Society

4.3 /5 (7 votes)  

Filter


Move the slider to adjust rank threshold, so that you can hide some of the comments.


Display comments: newest first

SDMike
Mar 01, 2008

Rank: not rated yet
So, E smoking increases cancer risk. "The increased risk was most prominent in current smokers. " I've taught statistics for years and don't recall the term "prominent". What is the relationship between E and cancer in non smokers?

Lousy reporting!
Rank 4.3 /5 (7 votes)
Tags

Relevant PhysicsForums posts
  • Is Everyday Technology Killing Us?
    createdFeb 08, 2012
  • Exercise and weight loss
    createdFeb 08, 2012
  • Why do we have head aches? Our brains can't feel anything.
    createdFeb 07, 2012
  • "The end of diseases" by David Agus, interview from Daily Show with Jon Stewart
    createdFeb 04, 2012
  • Oncolytic adenovirus
    createdFeb 04, 2012
  • Nutrition label stuffs and diets
    createdFeb 02, 2012
  • More from Physics Forums - Medical Sciences

More news stories

Discovery paves way for salmonella vaccine

(Medical Xpress) -- An international research team led by a University of California, Davis, immunologist has taken an important step toward an effective vaccine against salmonella, a group of increasingly antibiotic-resistant ...

Medicine & Health / Research

created 42 minutes ago | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

First-of-its-kind stem cell study re-grows healthy heart muscle in heart attack patients

Results from a Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute clinical trial show that treating heart attack patients with an infusion of their own heart-derived cells helps damaged hearts re-grow healthy muscle.

Medicine & Health / Cardiology

created 48 minutes ago | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Ovarian cancer arises in fallopian tube of knockout mice

(Medical Xpress) -- The most deadly form of "ovarian" cancer arises in the fallopian tubes – not the ovaries – of knockout mice that lack two genes associated with the disease, said researchers led by Baylor College ...

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created 43 minutes ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Smoking bans lead to less, not more, smoking at home: study

Smoking bans in public/workplaces don't drive smokers to light up more at home, suggests a study of four European countries with smoke free legislation, published online in Tobacco Control.

Medicine & Health / Health

created 48 minutes ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

UK cases of progressive sight loss condition set to rise a third by 2020

New cases of the progressive sight loss condition, known as age-related macular degeneration, or AMD for short, are set to rise by a third in the UK over the next decade, reveals research published online in the British Jo ...

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created 47 minutes ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0


Time of year important in projections of climate change effects on ecosystems

(PhysOrg.com) -- Does it matter whether long periods of hot weather, such as last year's heat wave that gripped the U.S. Midwest, happen in June or July, August or September?

Medical school link to wide variations in pass rate for specialist exam

Wide variations in doctors' pass rates, for a professional exam that is essential for one type of specialty training, seem to be linked to the particular medical school where the student graduated, indicates research published ...

Scientists discover reason for Mt. Hood's non-explosive nature

(PhysOrg.com) -- For a half-million years, Mount Hood has towered over the landscape, but unlike some of its cousins in Oregon’s Cascade Mountains and many other volcanoes around the Pacific “Rim ...

Missing dark matter located: Intergalactic space is filled with dark matter

Researchers at the University of Tokyo’s Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (IPMU) and Nagoya University used large-scale computer simulations and recent observational data of gravitational ...

Plants use circadian rhythms to prepare for battle with insects

In a study of the molecular underpinnings of plants' pest resistance, Rice University biologists have shown that plants both anticipate daytime raids by hungry insects and make sophisticated preparations to ...

Sensing self and non-self: New research into immune tolerance

At the most basic level, the immune system must distinguish self from non-self, that is, it must discriminate between the molecular signatures of invading pathogens (non-self antigens) and cellular constituents that usually ...