October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month
University of Illinois researchers report that selenium may help prevent breast cancer in women whose genes make them vulnerable to the disease. Previous studies indicate that low selenium levels increase cancer risk. Researchers focused on gene proteins that depend on selenium, in this case the antioxidant enzyme glutathione peroxidase.
Using tissue samples, scientists compared genes from 517 cancer-free participants with genes from 79 breast cancer patients, and found that the genes in the cancer-free women were more responsive to selenium than were the genes in the women who had breast cancer. The researchers theorize that some women may be born with genes that require more selenium to get the same amount of protein activity as other women. Because these findings are preliminary, the scientists are unable to make dosage recommendations.
Reference: Cancer Research; June 15, 2003, 3347-51.
