OpenOnco
UA EN

Onco Wiki / Drug

Selenium (cancer chemoprevention — research-noted; not standard-of-care)

Deterministic view of the source YAML entity. Clinical authority remains with the cited source IDs and reviewer sign-off state.

IDDRUG-SELENIUM-CHEMOPREVENTION
TypeDrug
Aliases
L-selenomethionineSe supplementationSelenium chemopreventionSelenized yeastSodium selenitevarious OTC supplementsСелен (хіміопрофілактика раку — дослідницький контекст, НЕ стандарт)
Statusreviewed 2026-05-18 | pending_clinical_signoff
DiseasesNone declared
SourcesSRC-VITAL-VITAMIN-D-OMEGA3-2019 SRC-WCRF-AICR-CUP-2018

Drug Facts

ClassTrace-element micronutrient supplement (essential cofactor for selenoproteins, including glutathione peroxidases)
MechanismEssential trace element; incorporated into ~25 human selenoproteins including the glutathione peroxidases (GPx1-4), thioredoxin reductases (TXNRD1-3), and selenoprotein P. Cancer-prevention rationale: GPx isoenzymes detoxify peroxides; reduced selenium status was hypothesised to increase oxidative DNA damage and carcinogenesis. Observational studies (Nutritional Prevention of Cancer / NPC trial — Clark JAMA 1996) suggested ~50% reduction in prostate, lung, and colon cancers with 200 µg/day selenized yeast; this drove the SELECT trial. SELECT (Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial — Lippman JAMA 2009, Klein JAMA 2011) — 35,533 men, 200 µg/d L-selenomethionine (± vitamin E) vs. placebo: NULL for prostate cancer incidence (HR 1.04 with selenium alone) and SIGNAL of HARM for selenium + vitamin E. Subsequent Cochrane review concluded selenium supplementation does NOT reduce overall...
Typical dosingRESEARCH-ONLY context (SELECT historical): L-selenomethionine 200 µg PO daily. RDA / DRI (Institute of Medicine): Adults: 55 µg/day; pregnancy 60 µg/d; lactation 70 µg/d. Upper limit (UL): 400 µg/day adults — chronic intake above UL associated with selenosis (hair/nail brittleness, GI upset, garlicky breath, neuropathy, hepatotoxicity). IF deficient (rare in non-Keshan-belt regions, possible in long- term parenteral nutrition) — repletion under specialist supervision.
Ukraine registeredTrue
NSZU reimbursedFalse
Ukraine last verified2026-05-18

Notes

STUB — v0.2 chemoprevention-workstream authoring (batch 2); pending two-Clinical-Co-Lead signoff per CHARTER §6.1 dev-mode. SELENIUM IS NOT STANDARD-OF-CARE CHEMOPREVENTION (research-noted only). PRIMARY EVIDENCE STATE: SELECT trial (Lippman JAMA 2009 / Klein JAMA 2011 / long-term follow-up) — 35,533 men, L-selenomethionine 200 µg/d ± vitamin E vs. placebo — NULL for prostate-cancer incidence and a SIGNAL OF HARM (selenium + vitamin E arm) at 7-year follow-up. Subsequent Cochrane systematic review (Vinceti 2018): no evidence of benefit for any cancer; possible increased risk of T2DM and non-melanoma skin cancer at supplemental doses. NCCN / USPSTF / WCRF-AICR Continuous Update Project (2018) — no recommendation for selenium supplementation for cancer prevention; WCRF explicitly advises against. Engine MUST NOT recommend selenium supplementation for cancer prevention. Document presence here only for completeness of supplement-class enumeration and for explicitly counseling patients away from over-the-counter selenium chemoprevention marketing. Selenium-DEFICIENT individuals (rare; chronic TPN, Keshan- belt regions) may benefit from repletion under specialist supervision, but that i...

Used By

No reverse references found in the YAML corpus.