Vitamin E May Help Prevent Lung Cancer, Study

A seven year study by researchers at the National Cancer Institute and the National Public Health Service in Helsinski looked at alpha-tocopherol, the active form of vitamin E in the body of about 29,000 older Finnish men who smoke.

Findings published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute showed that smokers who had the highest level of vitamin E in their blood had 19 percent fewer cases of lung cancer than those with the lowest levels. Researchers stressed that this does not necessarily mean that taking a vitamin E supplement can prevent lung cancer, but it does show that the vitamin can work in the body to prevent cancer, researchers added.

Karen Woodson and her coleague researchers wrote : “These findings suggest that high levels of alpha-tocopherol, if present during the early critical stages of tumorigenesis (tumor formation) may inhibit cancer development.”

Woodson, an epidemiologist, said it is possible that vitamin E might work to stop the very earliest tumors from forming. Vitamin E is an antioxidant, attaching to charged particles known as free radicals and stopping them from damaging cells. Vitamin E has also been shown to strengthen the immune system, and researchers say, it might stop tumors from tapping into little blood vessels to feed themselves.