Total oxidant/antioxidant status in sera of patients with thyroid cancers

Oxidative stress is considered to be involved in the pathophysiology of all cancers. In order to evaluate the total oxidant/antioxidant status in patients with thyroid cancer and to investigate the relationship between oxidative stress parameters and serum thyroid profiles among thyroid cancer patients and various controls, we determined oxidative status including total antioxidant status (TAS) and total oxidant status (TOS) and calculation of oxidative stress index (OSI) in sera in 82 thyroid cancer patients, 56 benign thyroid disease patients, and 50 healthy controls. It was found that serum TAS levels were significantly lower in patients with thyroid cancer than in controls (P<0.001), while serum TOS levels and OSI values were significantly higher (both P<0.001) in the cancer patients. No significant correlations were observed between various oxidative stress markers and thyroid profiles in either the thyroid cancer patients or the controls. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis demonstrated that OSI was the best indicator for distinguishing cancer patients from benign thyroid diseased or healthy controls, followed by TOS and TAS. Risk estimate statistics also indicated that TOS and/or OSI were good risk factors to discriminate patients with thyroid cancer from two controls. These findings suggested that oxidants are increased and antioxidants are decreased in patients with thyroid cancer. OSI may be a more useful oxidative stress biomarker than TAS and TOS for monitoring the clinical status of thyroid cancer patients

A systematic review of dietary, nutritional, and physical activity interventions for the prevention of prostate cancer progression and mortality

PURPOSE: Given the long-term, although potentially fatal, nature of prostate cancer, there is increasing observational evidence for the reduction in disease progression and mortality through changes in lifestyle factors. METHODS: We systematically reviewed dietary, nutritional, and physical activity randomized interventions aimed at modifying prostate cancer progression and disease-specific mortality, including a detailed assessment of risk of bias and methodological quality. RESULTS: Forty-four randomized controlled trials of lifestyle interventions, with prostate cancer progression or mortality outcomes, were identified. Substantial heterogeneity of the data prevented a meta-analysis. The included trials involved 3,418 prostate cancer patients, median 64 men per trial, from 13 countries. A trial of a nutritional supplement of pomegranate seed, green tea, broccoli, and turmeric; a trial comparing flaxseed, low-fat diet, flaxseed, and low-fat diet versus usual diet; and a trial supplementing soy, lycopene, selenium, and coenzyme Q10, all demonstrated beneficial effects. These trials were also assessed as having low risk of bias and high methodological quality (as were seven other trials with no evidence of benefit). The remaining trials were either underpowered, at high or unclear risk of bias, inadequately reported, of short duration or measured surrogate outcomes of unproven relationship to mortality or disease progression, which precluded any benefits reported being reliable. CONCLUSION: Large, well-designed randomized trials with clinical endpoints are recommended for lifestyle modification interventions. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10552-015-0659-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

The role of vitamin E in the prevention of cancer : A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

<b>Background: </b> There are conflicting results on published randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the role of vitamin E in the prevention of cancer. We conducted a meta-analysis of RCTs to evaluate the role of vitamin E in the prevention of cancer in adults. <b> Methods: </b> We included RCTs in which the outcomes of the intake of vitamin E supplement alone or with other supplements were compared to a control group. The primary outcomes were total mortality, cancer mor-tality, total incidence of cancer, and incidence of lung, stomach, esophageal, pancreatic, prostate, breast and thyroid cancers. All identified trials were reviewed independently by the two reviewers to determine whether trials should be included or excluded. The quality of all included studies was scored independently by the two reviewers. <b> Results: </b> Twelve studies, which included 167025 participants, met the inclusion criteria. There were no statis-tically significant differences in total mortality (relative risk, 0.99; 95&#x0025; CI 0.96-1.03), cancer incidence (odds ratio, 0.96; 95&#x0025; CI 0.92-1.01), and cancer mortality (odds ratio, 1.00; 95&#x0025; CI, 0.96-1.03) among the different groups of patients included in this meta-analysis. Vitamin E was associated with a significant reduction in the incidence of prostate cancer (relative risk, 0.85; 95&#x0025; CI, 0.73-0.96, number needed to treat=500), but it did not reduce the incidence of any other types of cancer. <b> Conclusions: </b> Vitamin E supplementation was not associated with a reduction in total mortality, cancer incidence, or cancer mortality, but it was associated with a statistically significant reduction in the incidence of prostate cancer. Vitamin E can be used in the prevention of prostate cancer in men who are at high risk of prostate cancer