Multivitamins in the prevention of Cancer in Men

Cancer prevention in men

A major study was published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the results of which I found nothing short of stunning for reasons which I will discuss. The study is entitled: 

Multivitamins in the Prevention of Cancer in Men: The Physicians' Health Study II Randomized Controlled Trial. 

This was a well designed randomized placebo controlled study of almost 15000 middle aged and older male physicians that started in 1997 until 2011. They reported the following conclusion: "In this large-scale randomized trial of 14 641 middle-aged and older men, a daily multivitamin supplement significantly but modestly reduced the risk of total cancer during a mean of 11 years of treatment and follow-up. 

Although the main reason to take multivitamins is to prevent nutritional deficiency, these data provide support for the potential use of multivitamin supplements in the prevention of cancer in middle-aged and older men." 

Here is the fascinating part: The vitamins used were Centrum Silver, synthetic vitamin E (400 IU of alpha tocopherol), synthetic ascorbic acid (vitamin c) and beta carotene 50 mg until 2003. I have always been of the belief that Centrum afforded no health benefits at all for many different reasons. In 20 years of practice, I have yet to encounter a patient who reported subjectively that he or she felt better on Centrum supplementation. 

So, to read an important study that actually demonstrated a clinically significant though modest cancer reduction with this regimen is totally fascinating and not what I would have expected. I can only hypothesize what results would have been seen had a comprehensive vitamin, mineral and antioxidant regimen had been used.

A negative or neutral result in this study would have been a big blow to the use of nutritionals, even though I do not consider Centrum adequate supplementation. Most people do not understand the differences between products, so the optics would not have been good. 

This is why I was thrilled to read these results. I look forward to more well-designed studies involving high quality supplements that deliver optimal nutrition to the cells. See the link for reading this study and I welcome any comments.

View Study