Radiation Archives - Seleniumfacts.com

Cancer patients tend to have reduced serum selenium concentrations compared to healthy controls. Adjuvant selenium supplementation improves the protection of healthy tissue in tumor patients undergoing radiation therapy [Muecke 2018].

Cologne cathedral in Germany — 15 years of experience with adjuvant selenium supplementation in radiation oncology in Germany has yielded a solid knowledge database. As a result, some radiation oncologists measure the patient’s selenium levels during therapy and compensate in cases of selenium deficiency. Even so, it is important to remember that selenium status is a relatively small piece in the bigger puzzle of therapeutic success in radiation oncology.

In a 2018 review of 15-years of experience with selenium supplementation in radiation oncology, Muecke et al [2018] reported on two randomized controlled trials. The researchers observed positive effects of the supplemental selenium and no adverse effects in the patients undergoing radiation therapy:

81 patients with uterine cancer
39 patients with head and neck tumors

Selenium Deficit in Cancer Patients

In the majority of the tumor patients (carcinomas of the uterus, head and neck, lungs, rectum or prostate) whom they examined, German researchers found a relative selenium deficit in whole blood or serum [Muecke 2018]. read more

Milestones in early selenium research

1817 Swedish chemist Jöns Jakob Berzelius discovers selenium

1957 Biochemist Klaus Schwarz shows that selenium in microscopic amounts has a vital importance for mammalian health

1969 Professor J.T. Rotruck discovers that selenium has a biochemical role as a component of the antioxidant enzyme glutathione peroxidase

1969 Professors R.J. Shamberger and D.V. Frost report a possible protective effect of selenium against cancer in humans

1973 Professor J.T. Rotruck identifies the enzyme glutathione peroxidase as a selenium-dependent protein

1977 Professor G.N. Schrauzer publishes cancer mortality correlation studies showing an inverse correlation between dietary intakes of selenium and cancer mortality in 27 countries

1988 Professor G.Q Yang summarizes the lessons learned about the selenium-related endemic diseases Keshan disease and Kashin-Beck disease and about the importance of adequate daily selenium intakes

1989 Professor G.G. Duthie publishes evidence for a role of selenium in the prevention of cardiovascular disease

1993 Researcher W.J. Blot publishes the results of the Nutrition Intervention Trials in Linxian, China, showing that supplementation with a combination of selenium and other antioxidants reduces the risk of cancer

1994 Professor G.N. Schrauzer publishes evidence that selenium is important in the maintenance and therapy of HIV-infected patients

1996 Professor Larry Clark publishes the results of a randomized controlled trial – the Nutritional Prevention of Cancer study -- that shows selenium's cancer-protective effects on colon cancer, lung cancer, and prostate cancer

1997 Professor G.F. Combs summarizes the evidence for the protective effects of selenium against cancer

1999 Professor J.E. Oldfield publishes his Selenium World Atlas, mapping areas of selenium deficiency around the world

2000 Researcher O.A. Levander publishes evidence showing an anti-viral effect of selenium

2002 Researcher R. Gärtner shows that supplementation with selenium reduces inflammation in patients with autoimmune thyroiditis

2002 Researcher Margaret Rayman presents the arguments for increasing selenium intakes to realize selenium’s antioxidant and anti-viral and anti-inflammatory effects as well as selenium’s enhancement of immune function and reproductive success.

Tag: Radiation

Selenium and Radiation Therapy for Cancer Patients

Selenium Deficit in Cancer Patients