Selenium, a trace mineral found in grains, nuts and meats can help prevent high risk of bladder cancer, according to a U.S. study
Researchers at Dartmouth Medical School compared the selenium levels in 767 newly diagnosed cases of bladder cancer at levels of 1108 people without the disease.
While no association between selenium and bladder cancer in the overall study population, the highest rates of selenium are associated with reductions in bladder cancer among women, moderate smokers and patients with p53 positive cancer bladder.
The results were published in Research for Cancer Prevention.
“There are different ways in which developing bladder cancer and is considered a major route involves alterations in the p53 gene, cancers of the bladder resulting from these changes are associated with more advanced disease,” the study for Margaret Karagas professor of community and family medicine at Dartmouth’s Norris Cotton Cancer Center, said in an American Association for Cancer Research.
Previous research has shown a similar association between selenium and bladder cancer in women, but this study is one of the first to identify a link between selenium and p53 positive bladder cancer.
“Ultimately, if it is true that selenium can prevent a certain subset of individuals, as in women, since the development of bladder cancer or prevent certain types of tumors, including those related to the evolution of the p53 pathway, developing countries give us clues about how tumors could be prevented in the future and potentially available for this chemo-protective, “said Karagas.
The researchers hope to reproduce their findings in a larger study to further examine the association between selenium and bladder cancer in women and patients with tumors p53.
Tags: bladder cancer, Cancer, selenium foods,