Lilly Vitamin E and Lung Cancer
According to a recent report on NBC News, “Vitamin E does no good at all in preventing cancer or heart disease.”
Must be they never saw (or bothered to look for) this and other similar studies.
In an ongoing study of 1,088 lung cancer cases and 1,414 healthy matched controls, researchers studied the associations between consumption of alpha-, beta-, gamma-, and delta-tocopherol in the diet relative to lung cancer risk. [Note: Tocopherols are a class of organic chemical compounds, many of which have vitamin E activity.]
Increasing intake of dietary alpha-tocopherol (300 IU vitamin E per day) was seen to lead to between a 34-53% reduction in lung cancer risk.
Natural Vitamin E Factor and Cancer
Gamma-tocotrienols, one of the natural constituent compounds of vitamin E, have been shown to act against a wide range of human cancers. For instance, not only do they prevent prostate cancer cell invasion, but they also sensitize prostate cancer cells to other anti-cancer drugs.
A 2008 study showed that tocotrienols are able to induce apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in human prostate cancer cells, suggesting a potential role for them in prevention of prostate cancer. In fact, this natural vitamin E factor leads to a staggering 75% reduction in prostate tumor formation!
In a 2011 study, gamma-tocotrienols were seen to target prostate cancer stem cells, which may account for their anti-cancer actions. Other studies have shown that tocotrienols are powerful growth inhibitors and inducers of apoptosis (“programmed cell suicide”) in human breast cancer cells.
