A prospective study of selenium status and breast cancer risk

Journal Article · Wed Sep 05 04:00:00 EDT 1990 · JAMA, Journal of the American Medical Association; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.264.9.1128· OSTI ID:5505547

Hunter, D J; Stampfer, M J; Colditz, G A; Speizer, F E; Willett, W C ^[1]; Morris, J S ^[2]

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1. Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA (USA)
2. Univ. of Missouri, Columbia (USA)

Low dietary intake of selenium has been proposed as a risk factor for breast cancer. To address this hypothesis, the authors collected toenail clippings from 62,641 women in the Nurses' Health Study cohort who were free from cancer in 1982 and 1983. The selenium concentration in nails has been shown to reflect dietary intake of selenium. During 53 months of follow-up, 434 cases of breast cancer were diagnosed among women who had submitted a set of toenail clippings, and they matched one control free from breast and other cancers to each case. The mean selenium level in toenails in the cases was almost identical to that of the controls. After controlling for known breast cancer risk factors, the relative risk for women in the highest quintile of selenium as compared with the lowest quintile was 1.10 and there was not trend across quintiles. Results were similar for both premenopausal and postmenopausal women. Although these data do not exclude a possible influence of selenium intake before adulthood on subsequent risk of breast cancer, selenium intake later in life is not likely to be an important factor in the etiology of breast cancer.

• OSTI ID: 5505547
• Journal Information: JAMA, Journal of the American Medical Association; (United States), Journal Name: JAMA, Journal of the American Medical Association; (United States) Vol. 264:9; ISSN 0098-7484; ISSN JAMAA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

560300* -- Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
AGE DEPENDENCE
ANIMALS
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
BODY
CARCINOGENESIS
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
DIET
FEMALES
GLANDS
MAMMALS
MAMMARY GLANDS
MAN
NAILS
ORGANS
PATHOGENESIS
PRIMATES
QUANTITATIVE CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
RISK ASSESSMENT
SELENIUM COMPOUNDS
SKIN
VERTEBRATES
WOMEN