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News--
Antioxidants Don't Prevent Cancer in Male Smokers
By Megan Rauscher Jul 22, 2003
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Men who smoke shouldn't
trust in vitamin E or beta-carotene supplements to ward off lung cancer.
Antioxidants like these don't do much good, and may make matters worse, Finnish
scientists have found.
Between 1985 and 1993, some 29,000 male smokers were given vitamin E
(alpha-tocopherol) or beta-carotene or both daily for 5 to 8 years. While the
men were taking the supplements, the number of cases of lung cancer that
occurred was 17 percent higher among those given beta-carotene. The total number
of deaths in this group was also higher, by 8 percent.
Men taking vitamin E fared somewhat better. There was no effect on the number
of lung cancer cases, but prostate cancers were reduced by 34 percent, the
researchers report in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Most of the men were followed for up to 8 years after the supplements were
stopped. "The effects of alpha-tocopherol and beta-carotene disappeared during
the post-intervention follow-up period and no late preventive effects on cancer
were observed," Dr. Jarmo Virtamo of the National Public Health Institute in
Helsinki told Reuters Health.
Since more deaths occurred in men taking beta-carotene, "beta-carotene should
be avoided by smokers," Virtamo added.
As for the prevention of prostate cancer with vitamin E, that will need "confirmation in
other ongoing trials" before public health recommendations can be made, Virtamo
said.
SOURCE: Journal of the American Medical Association, July 23/30, 2003.
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