By David Liu, PHD

Tuesday Oct 09, 2012 (foodconsumer.org) -- Studies are inconsistent or should we say researchers as well as consumers are confused by study results with some studies suggesting vitamin E is preventative against prostate cancer and others suggesting otherwise.

Veteran cancer researcher C.S. Yang and colleagues at Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey explained in a report published in Cancer Prevention Research that vitamin E can be in a different form of tocophenol and some are protective against prostate cancer and others may not.

In response to a report from the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT) that showed higher prostate cancer incidence among people who tool alpha-tocopherol supplements, Dr. Yang said his research came to a similar conclusion, that is, alpha-tocophenol, a type of vitamin E, does not help prevent prostate cancer even in high doses.

Dr. Yang said his animal model studies have shown that γ- and δ-tocopherols as well as a naturally occurring mixture of tocopherols, but not α-tocopherol (all can be called vitamin E) are protective against cancer including prostate cancer.

On the basis of his research and studies by others, Dr. Yang and colleagues concluded 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."

One concern, in the writer's opinion, is that vitamin E supplements may contain a great deal of fillers and additives which may do more harm than good when it comes to prostate cancer prevention.

Prostate cancer is expected in more than 240,000 men in the United States in 2012 and the disease is generally not as aggressive as many other types of cancer, but some are lethal.  It is estimated that in 2012, 28,000 men will die from the disease in the U.S., according to the National Cancer Institute.