Cancer prevention trial comes to a halt

Editor in Chief Marc B. Garnick, M.D., puts the latest findings on selenium and vitamin E into perspective

For men everywhere, the news was disappointing. At the end of October 2008, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) announced that a study designed to test whether selenium and vitamin E, taken alone or in combination, could lower the risk of prostate cancer was ending early; researchers had grown concerned that taking the supplements might do more harm than good. It wasn't the conclusion we were expecting.

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