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Low selenium linked to cancer

Getting enough selenium in your diet could help protect you from cancer of the esophagus.

Low selenium linked to cancer

Getting enough selenium in your diet could help protect you from cancer of the oesophagus.

The amount of selenium in food depends on the selenium content of the soil in which it is grown. Natural food high in selenium includes cereals (corn, wheat, and rice), walnuts, soya-beans, animal products (chicken, egg, cheese) and seafood (tuna fish). There's some evidence for a link between selenium levels and stomach and oesophageal cancer.

The researchers looked at the relationship between selenium levels and three different types of cancer: oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), which arises from the cells lining the upper oesophagus; oesophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC), which begins in gland cells located where the oesophagus joins the stomach; and gastric cardia adenocarcinoma (GCA), which involves the upper part of the stomach.

For the study, the researchers looked at data on 120,852 men and women, aged between 55 to 69 years old. The researchers compared selenium levels in 64 patients who developed ESCC during follow-up; 112 EAC patients; 114 GCA patients; and 2,072 cancer-free controls. All had provided toenail clippings at the study's outset; the selenium content of a person's nails is considered to be an accurate measurement of their levels of the mineral over the previous year.

It was found that the higher a person's selenium levels, the lower their likelihood of developing ESCC. GCA also was associated with selenium levels, but the relationship was less significant; it was stronger for women than for men. Overall there was no relationship between selenium levels and EAC, but when the researchers looked separately at women and people who had never smoked, they did find an association between higher selenium levels and EAC risk. There was also a relationship between selenium intake and EAC risk in people with lower intakes of several antioxidant nutrients.

The findings suggest that selenium intake may protect against the risk of ESCC and GCA, as well as EAC in women, never-smokers, and people with low antioxidant intakes.
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