In December 1996, a study was reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association that supplementation of selenium for 4 years to 1300 subjects who had had a skin cancer removed resulted in significant reductions in cancer of the prostate, colon, and lung as well as a small reduction in breast cancer but no change in skin cancer recurrence. Scientific interest in prevention of cancer with selenium and sales of supplements skyrocketed.
In October 1998, results of a study appeared in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention detailing the experience of over 2,000 people in an Italian town called Reggio Emilia where there were unusually high levels of selenium in some of the tap water for 16 years. They were compared to 20,000 neighbors with normal selenium in their water. The incidence of malignant melanoma was 4 times greater in those who ingested high levels of selenium. Limitations of this study are that the actual exposure level was variable due to different water intakes, the form of selenium was as an inorganic salt (compared with the previous study which used high selenium yeast), and other risk factors for melanoma were not controlled for. But this is clearly a caution sign for selenium supplementation.
HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: The status of selenium among nutritionists has gone from a highly toxic substance to a potential cancer fighter. However, we obviously do not know all the effects of chronic exposure to high amounts. In fact, the highest average blood selenium levels in the world are found in the U.S., while the lowest are found in New Zealand. But cancer rates in the two countries are similar. This suggests that a simple solution like selenium will not be a cure all for cancer but many research studies in progress should give us more useful information.
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