Selenium yeast supplementation administered concurrently with chemotherapy and radiation therapy effectively increased blood selenium levels in cervical cancer patients with inadequate selenium status. The selenium yeast supplementation was used as an adjuvant treatment to the standard chemotherapy and radiation therapy. It significantly decreased the hematologic toxicity of the chemoradiotherapy [Yang 2023].
Each year, worldwide, half a million women are diagnosed with cervical cancer, and 300 000 die from the disease. In most cases, the human papilloma virus is the cause of the disease [Cohen 2019]. The trace element selenium has antiviral properties. Cell studies and mouse studies of cervical cancer have shown that different selenium species have anticancer effects in cervical cancer induced by human papilloma virus or by chemical carcinogens [Jablonska 2021].In a randomized controlled trial, researchers randomly assigned 104 patients diagnosed with stage IIB cervical cancer receive 100 mcg selenium yeast tablets (n=50) or matching placebos twice daily (n=54) for five weeks [Yang 2023].
All patients in both groups received the standard treatment including pelvic external irradiation, concurrent five cycles of chemotherapy, and brachytherapy [Yang 2023].read more
Aging. Getting up in years. Striving to live as long as possible and to be as strong and healthy as possible. At some point, good health becomes a more important concern than wealth. Optimal selenium status is important to good health [Alehagen 2021].
Professor Jan Aaseth, MD, PhD, researcher in internal medicine, endocrinology, and toxicology and specialist in selenium research.
In a review article, Professor Urban Alehagen and Professor Jan Aaseth list the following conditions associated with biological aging [Alehagen 2021]:
chronic mild to moderate systemic inflammation
detrimental DNA alterations
mitochondrial dysfunction
oxidative stress caused by harmful free radicals
telomere shortening
Getting old is inevitable. Biological aging necessarily involves a weakening of the immune system and increased susceptibility to diseases and environmental stresses.
Selenium deficiency associated with aging and aging-related diseases
Mitochondrial injuries are an important factor in the aging of human cells. A by-product of the mitochondrial generation of ATP energy in the cells is the production of reactive oxygen species, some of which are useful and some of which are harmful. The leakage of these harmful free radicals from the mitochondrial respiratory chain increases with age, which results in cellular oxidative damage, whenever there are not enough antioxidants to neutralize the effects of the free radicals.read more
Breast cancer prognosis is especially poor in patients with low serum selenium and serum selenoprotein P concentrations. Now, researchers have discovered natural autoantibodies with antagonistic properties to selenoprotein P uptake in breast cancer patients and in patients with thyroid disease [Demircan 2022; Sun 2022].
Autoimmunity is the production of antibodies against the tissues or substances of one’s own body, resulting in an autoimmune disease or hypersensitivity reaction. Autoantibodies to Selenoprotein P impair the transport of the essential trace element selenium in breast cancer patients and in Hashimoto’s thyroiditis patients.
Selenium is an essential trace element that has numerous biological functions in the body, most of which are carried out by selenium-containing selenoproteins. Among the more important selenoproteins are selenoprotein P, the main transporter of selenium in the blood, and glutathione peroxidase 3 (GPX3), an important antioxidant.
The human body does not synthesize selenium. Human cells are dependent upon selenium sources in the diet. Unfortunately, the selenium content in the soil and in food varies considerably from region to region in the world. For example, the plasma selenium concentrations in people living in much of Europe are generally below, often well below, 80–90 mcg/L whereas people living in North America generally have plasma selenium levels above 120 mcg/L [Alehagen 2022].read more
Research done in southern Sweden shows that three blood biomarkers of selenium availability correlated inversely with mortality from breast cancer. The lower the three selenium biomarker levels, the higher the mortality [Demircan 2021].
Assessment of selenium status at the time of breast cancer diagnosis identifies patients at exceptionally high risk for a poor prognosis. They are breast cancer patients with low levels of selenium, selenoprotein P, and glutathione peroxidase in their blood.
The blood biomarkers are:
Total selenium
Selenoprotein P
Glutathione peroxidase 3
Breast cancer patients with blood concentrations of these three selenium biomarkers in the highest quintile had significantly better chances of survival compared with patients whose blood levels of these substances were in the lowest quintile [Demircan 2021].
Selenium is an essential trace element. Essential means that sufficient selenium is necessary for normal cell functioning and that our bodies cannot synthesize selenium for us. We must get it from our diets. Trace element means selenium is a micronutrient that is needed in very small quantities, in microgram quantities. It may be an important element to slow the ageing process.
Selenium as a component in protective enzymes helps to keep us healthier longer in life. It helps to suppress oxidative stress and to decrease inflammation, to remove misfolded proteins, to decrease DNA damage, and to promote telomere length.
Sufficient selenium status plays an important role in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases, inflammation, and infections. Prof. Margaret P. Rayman, University of Surrey, estimates that serum/plasma selenium status of around 125 mcg/L is optimalfor human health [Rayman 2020].
The beneficial work of selenium in the cells and tissues is done by selenoproteins that contain the amino acid selenocysteine in the active center. Among the selenoproteins known to have an antioxidant effect in the body are the glutathione peroxidases (GPX1-4 and GPX6) and the thioredoxin reductases (TXNRD1-3) [Alehagen 2021].read more
Selenium is a trace element essential for for DNA repair, for good immune function, and for reduced mortality risk.
Cell studies, animal models, and human clinical trials suggest that an optimal supply of selenium is required to enhance the process of DNA damage repair.
The Micronutrient Information Center maintained by staff members at the Linus Pauling Institute of the Oregon State University provides reliable information about the vitamins and minerals and trace elements used in nutritional supplements.
Today, I want to summarize the information that the Center provides about selenium and supplement that information with the latest scientific research.
An Introduction to Selenium and Selenoproteins
Selenium is a trace element that is essential that humans need for the proper functioning of selenium-dependent selenoproteins. Free selenium is rare in the body. Instead, the selenium in the body is typically a component of selenomethionine, selenocysteine, and methyl-selenocysteine.read more
Pre-clinical studies suggest that selenium supplementation in the right formulation and the right dosage may enhance cancer treatment for certain forms of cancer. Selenium may help to protect normal cells and tissues against the toxicities of chemotherapy drugs. Selenium may enable the administration of higher than normal doses of the chemotherapy drugs.
Chemotherapy and radiation continue to be the major forms of treatment for many types of cancer. The considerable toxicity of these treatments to normal cells is a problem in cancer treatment and management.
Selenium’s Role in Cancer Prevention
Selenium supplementation has already been associated with statistically significant reductions in the risk of various cancers and pre-cancerous conditions:
Selenium supplementation may be valuable in the treatment of canceras well as in the prevention of cancer. Selenium has the ability to protect against the formation and progression of some cancer cells and also the ability to selectively target some existing cancer cells.
A Cochrane review is a systematic review of research results in a field of human health care or health policy. The review’s authors summarize and analyze the evidence from observational studies and randomized controlled studies. Observational studies are studies in which the predictor variable (the study participants’ exposure to selenium) is not under the control of the researchers. In randomized controlled studies, the predictor variable (supplementation of some of the participants with selenium) is under the control of the researchers even though they are commonly blinded until the end of the study from knowing which study participants are receiving the active substance instead of the placebo substance.
Observational studies show predominantly and consistently an inverse association between selenium exposure and the risk of some cancer types [Vinceti 2018; Cai 2016]. The evidence from some 70 observational studies indicates that higher levels of exposure to selenium are associated with lower levels of cancer incidence and mortality [Vinceti 2018]. What the observational studies haven’t shown thus far is a systematic pattern suggesting specific dose-response relationships. [Vinceti 2018].
The evidence from observational studies also indicates that there may be a U-shaped form to the relationship between selenium exposure and disease risk. For example, one study suggests that the best serum selenium range for protection against prostate cancer is between 119 and 137 micrograms per liter [Chiang 2010]. A second study shows that the risk of prostate cancer decreases gradually as the selenium concentrations increase in the range from 60 micrograms of selenium per liter of plasma up to 170 micrograms per liter. Above 170 micrograms per liter, the protection ceases [Hurst 2012].read more
Because many cancers take so long to develop, research studies with cancer as the endpoint require a long period of observation and are very expensive. Focus on intermediate endpoints such as bio-markers for the development of cancer are useful for assessing the value of selenium supplements for cancer prevention. Pictured here: a histo-pathologic image showing squamous cell carcinoma in a biopsy specimen.
When we test the efficacy of selenium supplementation in the prevention of cancer, we often look at the effect of the selenium supplementation on bio-markers for the development of cancer. Bio-markers are substances whose presence in blood or tissue indicates the concurrent presence of a disease or an infection.
An Indian (sub-continent) research study has shown that supplementation with selenium, zinc, riboflavin, and vitamin A significantly inhibits the development of bio-markers for oral cancers [Prasad].
Okay, because the selenium was administered as one component in a micro-nutrient cocktail, we cannot attribute the outcome solely to the selenium supplementation. But it is a good bet that the selenium – through its incorporation into antioxidant selenoproteins – was a major factor in the beneficial health effects. There is support for the idea that antioxidant supplements are effective cancer chemopreventive agents [Prasad].read more
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