Vitamins C, E and Beta Carotene Do Not Reduce Cancer Risk
Women who took beta carotene or vitamin C – E, or a combination of supplements have the same risk of cancer than women not taking supplements, according to a randomized controlled trial of Journal of the NCI.
Epidemiological studies have suggested that people whose diets are high in fruits and vegetables and therefore antioxidants may have a lower risk of cancer.
Results of randomized trials dealing with the issue, however, have been inconsistent and rarely have supported this observation.
In the current study, Jennifer Lin, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston and colleagues tested the impact of antioxidant supplements on cancer incidence in a randomized controlled trial.
A total of 7627 women who were at high risk of cardiovascular disease were randomly assigned to take vitamin C, vitamin E or beta-carotene.
With an average of 9.4 years of follow-up time, there was no statistically significant benefit from the use of antioxidants compared with placebo in terms of risk of disease or mortality due to cancer.
“Supplementation with vitamin C, vitamin E, beta carotene or offer global benefits in the primary prevention of total cancer incidence or cancer mortality,” conclude the authors.
“In our view, neither the duration of treatment or the combination of the three antioxidant supplements in general is killed or effects on cancer.
Therefore, our results agree with a recent review of randomized trials indicates that total mortality was not affected by the duration of administration in individual antioxidant supplements or combination regimens. “