Dietary minerals and colon carcinogenesis (review).

Variations in dietary exposure to several minerals may alter the risk of acquiring colorectal cancer. These minerals include selenium, zinc, calcium, sodium, potassium, iron and fluoride. The mechanism by which each of these minerals alters cancer risk is not established. However, as both the epidemiologic and experimental evidence for major calorie sources, fat and protein, being the primary determinants of colorectal cancer risk is weakening, micronutrients may prove to be the primary determinants of risk in human colorectal cancer.