Department of Chemical Biology, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, 08854, USA.
Cancer Prev Res (Phila). 2012 May;5(5):701-5. doi: 10.1158/1940-6207.CAPR-12-0045. Epub 2012 Apr 3.
The cancer preventive activity of vitamin E has been suggested by many epidemiologic studies. However, several recent large-scale human trials with α-tocopherol, the most commonly recognized and used form of vitamin E, failed to show a cancer preventive effect. The recently finished follow-up of the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT) even showed higher prostate cancer incidence in subjects who took α-tocopherol supplementation. The scientific community and the general public are faced with a question: "Does vitamin E prevent or promote cancer?" Our recent results in animal models have shown the cancer preventive activity of γ- and δ-tocopherols as well as a naturally occurring mixture of tocopherols, and the lack of cancer preventive activity by α-tocopherol. On the basis of these results as well as information from the literature, we suggest that vitamin E, as ingested in the diet or in supplements that are rich in γ- and δ-tocopherols, is cancer preventive; whereas supplementation with high doses of α-tocopherol is not.
维生素 E 的防癌活性已被许多流行病学研究证实。然而，最近几项针对α-生育酚（维生素 E 最常见和常用的形式）的大规模人体试验未能显示出防癌效果。最近完成的硒和维生素 E 防癌试验（SELECT）随访甚至表明，服用α-生育酚补充剂的受试者前列腺癌发病率更高。科学界和公众都面临着一个问题：“维生素 E 是预防还是促进癌症？” 我们最近在动物模型中的研究结果表明，γ-和δ-生育酚以及天然生育酚混合物具有防癌活性，而α-生育酚则没有防癌活性。基于这些结果以及文献中的信息，我们认为，从饮食中摄入或从富含γ-和δ-生育酚的补充剂中摄入维生素 E 具有防癌作用；而补充高剂量的α-生育酚则没有。
