{"id":4036,"date":"2026-06-30T07:29:34","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T07:29:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/seleniumfacts.com\/?p=4036"},"modified":"2026-05-28T08:25:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T08:25:15","slug":"selenium-and-drug-resistant-breast-cancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seleniumfacts.com\/index.php\/selenium-and-drug-resistant-breast-cancer","title":{"rendered":"Selenium and Drug-Resistant Breast Cancer"},"content":{"rendered":"<h5>What continues to be a problem in breast cancer therapy?<\/h5>\n<p><strong>Over time, many breast tumors become resistant to chemotherapy. Thus, drug-resistant tumors limit the success of anti-cancer therapies. Numerous mechanisms decrease the intracellular accumulation of anti-cancer drugs. In this way, breast cancer tumors become less responsive to the chemotherapy [Bajer 2026].<\/strong><\/p>\n<h5>Does supplementary selenium have anti-cancer properties?<\/h5>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4038\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4038\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4038 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/seleniumfacts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Breast-cancer-survivors-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Breast cancer survivors\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/seleniumfacts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Breast-cancer-survivors-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/seleniumfacts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Breast-cancer-survivors.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4038\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>In breast cancer treatment, selenium compounds may help to reverse resistance to chemotherapy. The selenium may help to sensitize aggressive breast cancer cells to standard chemotherapies. We need clinical trials to establish selenium form and dosage.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Selenium is an essential trace element. Through the activity of selenoproteins, selenium is involved in the following potentially anti-cancer activities [Bajer 2026]:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Antioxidant defense<\/li>\n<li>Immune modulation<\/li>\n<li>Redox regulation<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Note: Cancer cells often rely on altered redox balance. Accordingly, selenium compounds may disrupt tumor survival mechanisms. At the same time, they can spare normal cells and tissues.<\/p>\n<h5>How do selenium compounds attack drug-resistant cancer?<\/h5>\n<p>In a 2026 review, Bajer et al make the point that multi-drug resistance in breast cancer often stems from several resistance pathways acting together. Thus, selenium-containing compounds may help overcome breast cancer patients\u2019 multi-drug resistance via overlapping multiple mechanisms:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Increased damage to cancer cells from reactive oxygen species<\/li>\n<li>Increased apoptosis and ferroptosis in cancer cells<\/li>\n<li>Damaged mitochondrial function in cancer cells<\/li>\n<li>Inhibited cell cycle in cancer cells<\/li>\n<li>Impaired pro-survival signaling pathways in cancer cells<\/li>\n<li>Increased sensitivity of resistant cells to chemotherapy<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5>What are caveats to the use of selenium to overcome drug resistance in breast cancer?<\/h5>\n<p>First of all, selenium supplementation is not a stand-alone therapy in breast cancer. Supplementary selenium has a possible adjunctive role in combination therapy:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>as a chemosensitizer<\/li>\n<li>in combination with existing drugs<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Secondly, most supporting evidence for adjunctive use of selenium comes from cell culture studies and animal models. We need evidence from large clinical trials. Clinical trials can help establish the form and the dosage of the adjunctive selenium treatment.<\/p>\n<h5>Which breast cancer therapies could selenium help?<\/h5>\n<p>Again, with the caveat that most evidence comes from preclinical studies, Bajer et al [2026] suggest <a href=\"https:\/\/pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/articles\/PMC13163965\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">supplementary selenium<\/a> may sensitize drug-resistant breast cancer cells to chemotherapy and could increase apoptosis in cancer cells.<\/p>\n<h6>Doxorubicin treatment<\/h6>\n<p>Possibly, the selenium could act as a chemosensitizer. It could increase cytotoxicity against tumor cells. Moreover, it could reduce collateral toxicity in normal cells.<\/p>\n<h6>Paclitaxel treatment<\/h6>\n<p>Selenium compounds may interfere with drug-resistance mechanisms. They may re-sensitize cancer cells to paclitaxel treatment.<\/p>\n<h6>Tamoxifen treatment<\/h6>\n<p>Here, selenium could potentiate anti-estrogen activity. Supplementation could help overcome tamoxifen resistance in hormone-responsive breast cancer cells.<\/p>\n<h6>Trastuzumab treatment<\/h6>\n<p>For trastuzumab-resistant cancer cells, selenium compounds may increase cytotoxicity in the drug-resistant cells.<\/p>\n<h5>Conclusion: Selenium and drug-resistant breast cancer?<\/h5>\n<p>Potential benefits include lower chemotherapy doses, lower systemic toxicity,<br \/>\nand increased sensitivity of drug-resistant tumors to chemotherapy.<\/p>\n<p>However, the available evidence is from preclinical studies.<\/p>\n<p>Selenium-based adjunctive therapies are not yet a part of standard breast cancer treatment.<\/p>\n<h5>Sources<\/h5>\n<p>Bajer H et al. Selenium-Based strategies for targeting multidrug-resistant breast cancer: A review. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2026;27(9):3848.<\/p>\n<p><em>The information presented in this review article is not medical advice. Readers should not use it as medical advice.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What continues to be a problem in breast cancer therapy? Over time, many breast tumors become resistant to chemotherapy. Thus, drug-resistant tumors limit the success of anti-cancer therapies. Numerous mechanisms decrease the intracellular accumulation of anti-cancer drugs. In this way, breast cancer tumors become less responsive to the chemotherapy [Bajer 2026]. Does supplementary selenium have &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/seleniumfacts.com\/index.php\/selenium-and-drug-resistant-breast-cancer\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Selenium and Drug-Resistant Breast Cancer&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[38,36,35],"class_list":["post-4036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-breast-cancer","tag-breast-cancer","tag-cancer","tag-selenium"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Breast cancer therapy helped by selenium supplementation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Breast cancer resistance to chemotherapeutic medications may by overcome 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