Is serum selenium a risk factor for cancer in men only

Journal Article · Thu Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1987 · Am. J. Epidemiol.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6699018

Kok, F J; de Bruijn, A M; Hofman, A; Vermeeren, R; Valkenburg, H A

The association of serum selenium with the subsequent risk of death from cancer was investigated in a case-control study that was nested in a prospective nine-year follow-up study in the Netherlands. In 1975-1978, 10,532 persons in the Dutch town of Zoetermeer who were aged five years or more participated in a medical survey. Serum samples were collected and stored at -20 C. For the 82 persons who died of cancer since the baseline examination, 164 cohort members still alive by the end of 1983 were selected as controls and matched for age, sex, and smoking. Cancer deaths that occurred in the first year of follow-up were excluded, leaving 69 cases for statistical analyses. The mean serum selenium level of 116.7 +/- 4.0 ..mu..g/liter among male cancer deaths (n=40) was significantly different (p=0.04) from that in the control subjects (126.4 +/- 3.1 ..mu..g/liter). In females, selenium levels were similar among cases and controls. The adjusted risk of death from cancer for men in the lowest quintile of serum selenium (below 100.8 ..mu..g/liter) was more than twice that of subjects with higher levels (relative risk = 2.7, 90% confidence interval = 1.2-6.2). These data support recent findings of an increased cancer risk associated with low serum selenium levels in men but not in women.

• Research Organization: Erasmus Univ., Rotterdam, Netherlands
• OSTI ID: 6699018
• Journal Information: Am. J. Epidemiol.; (United States), Journal Name: Am. J. Epidemiol.; (United States) Vol. 125:1; ISSN AJEPA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

550900 -- Pathology
560300* -- Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
ANIMALS
BLOOD SERUM
DEATH
DISEASES
DISTRIBUTION
ELEMENTS
EUROPE
MAMMALS
MAN
NEOPLASMS
NETHERLANDS
PATHOGENESIS
PRIMATES
RISK ASSESSMENT
SELENIUM
SEMIMETALS
SEX DEPENDENCE
TISSUE DISTRIBUTION
TOXICITY
VERTEBRATES
WESTERN EUROPE