In was recently reported in The Journal of the National Cancer Institute that Vitamin E reduced the risk of prostate cancer by a third and the disease's death rate by 41 percent in a study of thousands of smokers. The study also showed that a form of vitamin A had no effect on reducing cancer. In fact, the data suggest that beta carotene users in the study were about 16 percent more likely to develop lung cancer. This result, first reported three years ago, startled many who had expected beta carotene to be proved as a cancer preventive. It was also suggested that vitamin E, in the form of alpha tocopherol, might provide some protection against colorectal cancer and, after five years, some protection against lung cancer, although these data were not nearly as dramatic as the prostate cancer results.
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The study, performed in Finland, involved 29,133 male smokers, ages 50 to 69, who had been selected to take part in a lung cancer study evaluating the effect of beta carotene and vitamin E on smokers. The men were divided into four groups. The vitamin E dosage was 50 milligrams a day, which is the equivalent of 50 international units. This is about five times the recommended minimum daily intake for men and about two and one-half times what most people get from food. 41 percent fewer prostate cancer deaths among men taking vitamin E. Taking the vitamin E supplement was not risk-free.