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ARS Home » Plains Area » Grand Forks, North Dakota » Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center » Dietary Prevention of Obesity-related Disease Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #137058

Title: CHEMICAL VERSUS FOOD FORMS OF SELENIUM IN CANCER PREVENTION

Author
item Davis, Cindy
item Finley, John

Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/1/2002
Publication Date: 8/1/2003
Citation: Davis, C.D., Finley J.W. Chemical versus food forms of selenium in cancer prevention. In: Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals in Cancer Prevention. Watson, Ronald R. (ed); Iowa State Press, Iowa, pp. 55-85, 2003.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The trace element selenium has been shown to have chemopreventive potential by a converging body of evidence from epidemiologic, clinical and experimental studies. In particular, the results of recent clinical intervention trials have shown strong protective effects of selenium-enriched yeast for cancers of the lung, colon and prostate. Mechanistically, selenium appears to exert its chemopreventive effects via changes in selenoprotein production, carcinogen metabolism and DNA adduct formation, regulation of apoptosis and cell cycle arrest and/or inhibition of angiogenesis. Different chemical forms of selenium are metabolized differently and exert different biochemical effects. Selenium-enriched foods often contain mixtures of different selenium compounds and thus can affect multiple pathways to inhibit carcinogenesis. Furthermore, selenium-enriched foods have been shown to have higher chemopreventive activity in animal models than purified compounds suggesting that selenium-enriched foods are feasible anticarcinogenic agents.