Selenium as a Possible Chemopreventive Agent Against Cancer

Abstract

Evidence has indicated that selenium as a trace element supplemented to a normal diet decreases tumor incidence in animals exposed to chemical carcinogens and in animals with a high tendency to develop spontaneous tumors. A striking example is that observed by Schrauzer and Ishmael [1] in which the incidence of mammary tumors afflicting 80% of aged C3H mice can be reduced to 10% by the long-term feeding of subtoxic levels of sodium selenite. This protective effect of selenium has naturally led people to think that selenium deficiency, on the other hand, would render the hosts susceptible to carcinogenic insults.