Such a mis-focus is understandable, as tocotrienol is very difficult to obtain. Sylvester's work seems to be a further step toward understanding the protective role of vitamins and other nutrients in the diet. This understanding is becoming more and more sophisticated. Different forms of vitamin E, as well as other vitamins and micronutrients, seem to migrate to different parts of the body where they play their protective roles. No single nutrient is a single bullet.
Protection depends on their cumulative effect.
In other words, what this work further suggests is simply that eating a variety of fruits and vegetables is good for you. Palm oil sold in the U.S. is refined to remove the somewhat objectionable color and odor. Unfortunately, the refining also removes its protective qualities. In spite of the dearth of raw palm oil in this part of the world, tocotrienol is available through some other foods, including rice bran oil and wheat bran oil, though not nearly in the concentration available in palm oil. So far, no one has been able to synthesize the compound.