Selenium is an essential mineral that your body requires in very small quantities. The recommended daily intake of selenium for adults is 55mcg per day. Selenium is found in both plant and animal foods, with Brazil nuts supplying, by far, the highest levels of this mineral. Research into selenium's effects on cancer cells has yielded promising results. Check with your doctor about using selenium to treat cancer.
Natural Defenses
Selenium makes breast cancer cells more sensitive to your body's natural anti-cancer defenses, say researchers of a study conducted at State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Structure and Materials, Jilin University, China. In the tissue culture study, scientists added a selenium compound to human breast cancer cells that had become resistant to the effects of these substances, called tumor necrosis factors. Results showed that selenium promoted production of proteins that induce apoptosis--programmed cell death--in cancer cells, implying a strong potential for use of selenium in breast cancer treatment. The study was published in the May 2011 issue of the "European Journal of Cancer."
Radiation Therapy
Selenium may make cancer treatments more effective, according to a study conducted at the Peking University School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Beijing, China. Researchers reported that selenium inhibited an enzyme that promotes resistance to radiation in lung cancer cells. The enzyme, called thioredoxin reductase, was effectively inhibited by doses of 5 micromoles per liter of a selenium-containing compound. Researchers concluded that the selenium compound shows promise for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer. The study was published in the May 2011 issue of the journal "Anticancer Drugs."
Antioxidant
A study conducted at the Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University,Thailand found that selenium's antioxidant effects on cells may protect against some forms of cancer. A survey of lung cancer patients showed that those with early stages of cancer had higher selenium levels than those with more advanced stages of cancer. Those with lower scores on questionnaires of physical performance had lower levels of selenium. The researchers suggest that the results of their study point toward the need for further studies into the potential anti-cancer benefits of nutritional supplementation with antioxidants such as selenium. The study was published in the April 2011 issue of the journal "Nutrition."
Cancer Treatment
Selenium may be useful at treating established cancer by promoting cell death and increasing cancer cells' sensitivity to chemotherapy, say researchers of a study conducted at the Centre for Haemato-Oncology, Barts Cancer Institute, London. The tissue culture study of lympoma cancer cells showed that a form of selenium known as methylselenic acid inhibited an enzyme that activates certain genes that promote cancer cell production. Researchers noted that this study is the first to establish selenium's ability to affect this pathway toward cancer development. The study was published in the April 2011 issue of the journal "Cancer Chemotherapy and Pharmacology."
References
- "European Journal of Cancer"; Seleno-cyclodextrin Sensitises Human Breast Cancer Cells to Trail-induced Apoptosis Through Dr5 Induction and Nf-κb Suppression; T. Lin, et al.; May 2011
- "Anticancer Drugs"; Selenium-containing Thioredoxin Reductase Inhibitor Ethaselen Sensitizes Non-small Cell Lung Cancer to Radiotherapy; L. Wang, et al.; May 2011
- "Nutrition"; Serum Antioxidant Levels and Nutritional Status in Early and Advanced Stage Lung Cancer Patients; K. Klarod, et al.; April 2011
- "Cancer Chemotherapy and Pharmacology"; Methylseleninic Acid Inhibits Hdac Activity in Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma Cell Lines; S.Kassam, et al.; April 2011
- Office of Dietary Supplements National Institutes of Health: Selenium
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