Posted on 10/26/2023 9:16:24 PM PDT by ConservativeMind
Selenium-enriched diets may help ward off myeloid leukemia, and a new study led by researchers has described the mechanism by which this occurs.
The findings eventually could help lead to drug therapies that target some types of leukemia—including acute myeloid leukemia (AML), the researchers said.
Penn State scientists previously found that supplementing the diets of mice with selenium—a trace mineral naturally found in varying amounts in many foods—stimulated the production of compounds known as cyclopentenone prostaglandins, which appeared to kill or suppress leukemia stem cells.
Their latest study shows that these prostaglandins, called CyPGs, bind to and activate a gene, GPR44. When expressed on leukemia stem cells, this receptor signals the cells to undergo programmed death.
AML is characterized by the proliferation of abnormal, leukemia-initiating stem cells in the bone marrow, blood and other tissues, explained Sandeep Prabhu.
To test the hypothesis that GPR44 plays a role in the selenium-induced death of leukemia stem cells, the research team transplanted leukemic stem cells from mice that were devoid of GPR44 to mice whose cells had the GPR44 receptor. Groups of these mice had been fed diets with varying amounts of selenium supplementation prior to the transplants. The team then observed whether and how fast the disease progressed in the various groups.
The result was that the mice with the GPR44 receptor receiving selenium supplementation had significantly better outcomes than the ones in which the receptor was deleted.
He pointed out that while CyPGs induced leukemia stem cell death, they had no impact on normal blood-forming stem cells in the bone marrow, potentially making this a safe treatment regimen that also may help ensure the recovery of normal blood cell formation during leukemia.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
Getting too much total selenium can lead to other health problems, including increasing your chance for Type 2 diabetes and high-grade prostate cancer.
https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/selenium-and-prostate-cancer
Selenium was linked to a significant reduction in deaths from lung, colon, esophageal, and prostate cancer; protection appeared strongest for prostate cancer, with 63% fewer deaths in the men who took selenium. There were no cases of selenium toxicity. These results were greeted with great interest but also with caution; some doctors felt they were too good to be true, and most stressed the need for further research.
The Nutritional Prevention of Cancer Trial has issued two subsequent reports, which extend the observation period by 25 months, to the end of the trial. The initial hopes that selenium might reduce the incidence of lung and colorectal cancer did not hold up. But the men who received selenium continued to enjoy a 49% lower risk of prostate cancer through a follow-up period that averaged 7.6 years. The apparent protection was strongest in the men with the lowest blood selenium levels before starting the supplements and in men with PSA levels below 4.0 ng/ml.
Just two years after the 1996 report, Harvard’s Health Professionals Follow-up Study weighed in with a study of 33,737 men between the ages of 40 and 75. The researchers did not administer selenium supplements, nor did they measure blood levels of the mineral. Instead, they asked the volunteers to submit toenail clippings at the start of the study. The clippings were analyzed for selenium concentration, which reflects the selenium intake over the many months during which nails are formed.
When the scientists tracked the men for six years, they found that the men with the highest selenium levels at the start of the study had a 65% lower incidence of advanced prostate cancer than the men with the lowest levels, even after taking other prostate cancer risk factors into account. The Harvard team calculated that a daily consumption of 159 micrograms of selenium would prove protective.
A second Harvard study followed in 2004. The Physicians’ Health Study collected blood samples in 1982 from 14,916 American doctors who were in good health. Over the next 13 years, the men with the highest initial blood selenium levels had a 48% lower incidence of advanced prostate cancer than those with the lowest levels. Men with high selenium levels who also had elevated PSA levels at the start of the study experienced the additional benefit of a lower risk of early prostate cancer.
Baseline Selenium Status and Effects of Selenium and Vitamin E Supplementation on Prostate Cancer Risk
an internet doctor says that if we take two brazil nuts every day, you will get enough natural selenium..
Conflicting studies. Avoid Vit E with selenium it appears to me. I heard a doc talking about selenium & prostate cancer the other day, saying it looked ‘protective’ .... that’s why I looked it up when I saw your comment. My brother was just treated for prostate cancer earlier this year, so I have a vested interest.
Bkmk
It would be nice if the article mentioned the effective human dose and which forms of leukemia are likely to benefit.
This hokum seems like a solution looking for a problem!
Key Statistics for Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML)
1/2 of 1% Chance Of This Cancer in Your Lifetime
https://bit.ly/3QA4wGb
There are many people on Free Republic who know people with leukemia, or even have it, themselves. My cousin has it, for instance.
If something can be taken that may curb the likelihood of getting it, or could help against it, if it already exists, that is not “hokum.”
People can have low levels of selenium, and it is something that can be checked and easily addressed.
"This is Hokum! Because you probably will not get it! !".
Seems like a self-important (and irrational) pronouncement with an implied conclusion that there is no point in conducting research into cancer treatments because not many will suffer from this cancer.
Your information on AML is misleading. There are several types of leukemias and even more types of non-Hodgkins lymphoma (another related blood cancer).
AML is a rare form of leukemia, as noted.
If you are going to post medical information, you should provide enough information to make an informed decision.
A post on selenium is not the way to do that and is misleading for the vast majority of blood cancers.
FYI.
Your words -- not mine.
I said nothing about cancer research -- which has produced many life-saving advancements.
My point is that a study on selenium for AML only affects a very minuscule part of the population of cancer patients and even blood cancer patients as a group. Most people reading this likely have no clue that blood cancers are as varied as the total of all cancer types (solid and other forms).
It's misleading and confusing.
AML is the absolute most common leukemia across all adults, so it is NOT a “rare form of leukemia,” as you wrongly state.
From the study write up:
The findings, published in Cell Reports, eventually could help lead to drug therapies that target some types of leukemia—including acute myeloid leukemia (AML), the most common blood and bone marrow cancer in adults, the researchers said.
Pull your head out. I see clearly, you see poorly.
This guy just lies, all day long, and his signature is “Q.”
Figures!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.