Vitamin E and selenium do not prevent prostate cancer

A major study on whether vitamin E and selenium prevent prostate cancer has been stopped because the supplements are not effective and also because there is a suspicion of a risk.

The study, the ‘SELECT’ trial, conducted by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), has been stopped by government health experts after an early review of the data showed neither supplement, taken alone or together, prevents prostate cancer.

The NCI says that more of a concern, was that slightly more users of vitamin E alone were getting prostate cancer and slightly more selenium-only users were getting diabetes.