Vitamin E, a fat-soluble vitamin that is considered an antioxidant, may prevent DNA damage. Moreover, a diet high in vitamin E or vitamin E from supplements may lower the risk of liver cancer, according to a study conducted by investigators from the National Cancer Institute, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, and the Shanghai Cancer Institute.
The third most common cause of cancer mortality in the world is liver cancer, and approximately 85% of liver cancers occur in developing nations, with 54% in China alone.
To determine the relationship between vitamin E intake and liver cancer risk, Wei Zhang, MD, MPH, Shanghai Cancer Institute, Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, and colleagues analyzed data on 132,837 individuals from 2 population-based cohort studies jointly conducted by the Shanghai Cancer Institute and Vanderbilt University:
- Shanghai Women’s Health Study (SWHS) from 1997-2000
- Shanghai Men’s Health Study (SMHS) from 2002-2006
In order to compare liver cancer risk among participants who had high intake of vitamin E with those who had low intake, researchers conducted in-person interviews using validated food-frequency questionnaires to gather data on study participants’ dietary habits. The analysis, published recently in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, included 267 patients with liver cancer (118 women and 149 men) who were diagnosed between 2 years after study enrollment and an average of 5.5 (SMHS) or 10.9 (SWHS) years of follow-up.
Study results showed vitamin E intake from diet and vitamin E supplement use were both associated with a lower risk of liver cancer. This association was consistent among participants with and without self-reported liver disease or a family history of liver cancer. The study authors write, “We found a clear, inverse dose-response relation between vitamin E intake and liver cancer risk.”
“Overall, the take home message is that high intake of vitamin E either from diet or supplements was related to lower risk of liver cancer in middle-aged or older people from China,” said Xiao Ou Shu, MD, PhD, professor of medicine at the Vanderbilt Epidemiology Center.
Source: Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center.