News that nutritional supplements such as vitamin E may be able to stop prostate cancer before it starts has been praised as "tremendously significant" by scientists, according to Foods for the Future.
A new trial involving 30,000 men has been set up to study the potential of vitamin E and the mineral selenium to help prevent the onset of prostate cancer, which strikes about one in six men during their lifetimes.
The trial, being conducted by the National Cancer Institute, will give subjects either vitamin E, vitamin E in combination with selenium, selenium by itself or a placebo. The study is taking place in the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada and is expected to continue for 12 years.
The Wall Street Journal recently reported on the trial, citing "compelling evidence" that nutritional supplements including vitamin E may be able to "stop prostate cancer before it starts", Foods for the Future said.
The newspaper quoted Elise Cook, assistant professor of clinical cancer prevention at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston: "The significance of this trial is tremendous. You could avoid the whole issue of treatment if you prevent it in the first place."