Oral Selenium Supplementation Has No Effect on Prostate-Specific Antigen Velocity in Men Undergoing Active Surveillance for Localized Prostate Cancer

• Published in: Cancer prevention research (Philadelphia, Pa.) Vol. 3; no. 8; pp. 1035 - 1043
• Main Authors: Stratton, M. Suzanne, Algotar, Amit M., Ranger-Moore, James, Stratton, Steven P., Slate, Elizabeth H., Hsu, Chiu-Hsieh, Thompson, Patricia A., Clark, Larry C., Ahmann, Frederick R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.08.2010
• Subjects: Administration, Oral; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Algorithms; Carcinoma - blood; Carcinoma - metabolism; Carcinoma - pathology; Carcinoma - prevention & control; Dietary Supplements - adverse effects; Disease Progression; Double-Blind Method; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Placebos; Prostate-Specific Antigen - blood; Prostate-Specific Antigen - metabolism; Prostatic Neoplasms - blood; Prostatic Neoplasms - metabolism; Prostatic Neoplasms - pathology; Prostatic Neoplasms - prevention & control; Selenium - administration & dosage; Selenium - adverse effects
• ISSN: 1940-6207; 1940-6215; 1940-6215
• DOI: 10.1158/1940-6207.CAPR-09-0143

The Nutritional Prevention of Cancer trial showed a 52% lower incidence of prostate cancer in men supplemented with selenium. As a result, our study was designed to assess whether selenium supplementation attenuates the progression of prostate cancer. A phase 2 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial was conducted in men with localized nonmetastatic prostate cancer who had elected to forgo active treatment and be followed by active surveillance. A total of 140 men were randomized to placebo (n = 46), 200 μg/d (n = 47), or 800 μg/d (n = 47) selenium p.o. (as selenized yeast) and followed every 3 months for up to 5 years. Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) velocity was used as a marker of prostate cancer progression and was estimated using mixed-effects regression. Adjusting for age, body mass index, baseline selenium, smoking, baseline PSA, race, PSA method, and Gleason score, PSA velocities for the 200 μg/d and 800 μg/d treatment groups were not statistically significantly different from placebo (P = 0.32 and P = 0.61, respectively). In the highest quartile of baseline selenium, men supplemented with 800 μg selenium showed statistically significantly higher PSA velocity as compared with placebo (P = 0.018). Selenium supplementation did not show a protective effect on PSA velocity in subjects with localized prostate cancer. On the contrary, supplementation with high-dose selenium was observed to be a risk factor for increased PSA velocity in men with high baseline plasma selenium concentrations. Cancer Prev Res; 3(8); 1035–43. ©2010 AACR.