About: Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial

The Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial, or SELECT, was a clinical trial conducted with the goal of determining whether vitamin E and selenium supplements could prevent prostate cancer. Enrollment for the trial began in 2001 and ended in 2004. It cost approximately $114 million to conduct and was performed at over 400 different research centers. It was primarily funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and was carried out by SWOG. It was stopped early because the supplements did not show any benefit in preventing prostate cancer. Subsequent research based on the trial has generally found that selenium and vitamin E do not prevent prostate cancer. Other research based on foods rich in selenium or Vitamin E, not supplements, suggests that there is limited evidence such foods