Selenium & Cancer

Dietary Selenium (Se), mainly through its incorporation into selenoproteins, plays a vital role in inflammation and immunity. Adequate levels of Se are essential for initiating immunity, but they also regulate excessive immune responses and chronic inflammation. Se deficiency has long been recognized to negatively impact immune cells during activation, differentiation, and proliferation.

Selenium, whose name comes from the Greek word for “Selene,” has been a topic of interest as a micronutrient since it was described in 1817. Selenium, the most important micronutrient for humans and animals, must be consumed daily to support the body’s natural metabolism and homeostasis. It should be noted that 25 selenoproteins have been discovered in humans. Selenoproteins have been implicated in many metabolic and functional pathways, such as aging, cancer, or infection. Low blood Se levels were found to be associated with an increased incidence and mortality from various types of cancers.

Selenium is part of glutathione peroxidase, which protects cell components from oxidative damage due to peroxides produced in cellular metabolism. This means that it is an antioxidant, and many mainstream oncologists warn against using it when doing chemotherapy, whose primary purpose is to cause oxidative damage to cancer cells. Yet, they are entirely wrong to steer people away from this vital mineral, which in reality can be considered a standalone form of natural chemotherapy.

Selenite is a promising anti-cancer agent that has been shown to induce apoptosis in malignant mesothelioma cells. Sodium selenite inhibits interleukin-6-mediated androgen receptor activation in prostate cancer cells. Medical scientists who have studied Selenite found that Selenium did not reduce chemotherapeutic agents’ antiproliferative activity in vitro. In addition, Selenite was able to increase the inhibitory activity of docetaxel in A549 lung cancer cells and of 5-FU, oxaliplatin, and irinotecan in HCT116 and SW620 colon cancer cells, implying Selenite is potentially useful as an adjuvant chemotherapeutic agent. Findings suggest that docetaxel (chemo agent) and sodium selenite combination may be more effective in prostate cancer treatment than docetaxel alone.

The patients trying this alternative cancer treatment typically took a total daily
dose of 5000 mcg (= 5 mg) of Selenium as sodium selenite. This was taken in two
divided doses, 2500 mcg in the morning and another 2500 mcg in the evening,
always on an empty stomach (Selenium is much better absorbed on an empty stomach).

The symptoms of selenium toxicity are diarrhea, fatigue, hair loss, joint pain, nail discoloration, and nausea. Most health professionals would never recommend this high dose of regularly available Selenium, but below, we introduce a lipid-selenium, which can be taken safely at much higher doses. So far, we have focused on Selenite only because all available research has been conducted using this form.

The selenium salt selenite (SeO(3)(2-)) is cytotoxic in low to moderate concentrations, with a remarkable specificity for cancer cells resistant to conventional chemotherapy. Our data show that selenium uptake and accumulation, rather than intracellular events, are crucial to the specific selenite cytotoxicity observed in resistant cancer cells. We show that selenium uptake depends on extracellular reduction and that the extracellular environment is an essential factor specific to selenite cytotoxicity. The extracellular reduction is mediated by cysteine, and the efficacy is determined by cystine uptake by the x(c)(-) antiporter and secretion of cysteine by multidrug resistance proteins, which are frequently overexpressed by resistant cancer cells. This mechanism provides molecular evidence for an inverse relationship between resistance to conventional chemotherapy and sensitivity to selenite cytotoxicity and highlights the tremendous therapeutic potential in treating multidrug-resistant cancer.

“I contracted idiopathic myeloid fibrosis. According to my oncologist, this was a fatal, non-curable, non-treatable leukemia, and due to my condition, he gave me a very short time to live. This was in December 2009. After taking 5 ml per day of sodium selenite and 40 grams per day of ascorbic acid, my oncologist couldn’t (wouldn’t) believe I turned it around in 5 weeks. After insisting I must have had blood transfusions (He was on holiday during this period) to get the positive result – hemoglobin and platelets back to normal, energy levels high, no weight loss, pain, etc., etc. My white blood cell count was still high, but he took me off the death list.”

In vitro studies have demonstrated that sodium selenite in sufficient concentration has a high tumoricidal capacity. This is found in many human cell types, such as leukemia cells, mesothelioma, and non-small cell lung cancer cells.

By oxidizing cell membrane thiols, Selenite makes cancer cells vulnerable to immune surveillance and destruction by natural killer (NK) cells. In addition, Selenite may directly activate NK cells and inhibit angiogenesis without an undesirable decrease in the oxidative potential of the cellular environment. It is, therefore, postulated that sodium selenite, because of its relatively low toxicity, might become a drug of choice for many types of cancer, including leukemia.

One study was presented on April 9, 2013, at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) in Washington, DC. The researchers found that higher selenium concentrations in toenails were associated with a substantially reduced risk for advanced prostate cancer, with men with the highest levels having a 63% reduced risk (hazard ratio 0.37). On the 23rd of the same month, another study reported that selenium supplementation reduces and delays breast cancer metastasis but that the wrong type of Selenium may exacerbate it.

Taking Selenium in a Mercury-Polluted World

Everyone alive today must be concerned about Selenium because it is a partial antidote to mercury contamination. Unfortunately, we live in a mercury-polluted world, which worsens yearly because the global coal-fired energy plants put about 15 to 20 tons of mercury into the atmosphere daily.

My book on Selenium reported that just 200 mcg a day reduces cancer risk by 50%. The book confronted the idea that Selenium is dangerous.

Dr. Emanuel Revici (1897-1998) was the first physician to develop selenium compounds low enough in toxicity to give cancer patients doses far more than the safety limits for ordinary forms of Selenium. He did this by chemically bonding the mineral selenium to a lipid. Independent validations of Revici’s findings accumulated over the years concerning his development of a safe, effective means of lipid transport using Selenium in a virtually non-toxic form to treat cancer.

If one worries about the toxicity of Selenite, know that Tung Oil (lipid-selenium) can be safely administered at much higher doses. For stage 4 cancer patients, 15 milligrams or higher (10 drops 3X a day under the tongue) is commonly used. I wash it down with iodine in water.

Brazilian nuts have been linked to many other impressive health benefits, including being a good source of antioxidants. Brazil nuts boast antioxidants, such as Selenium (the highest amount of any food), vitamin E, and phenols like ellagic acid. The Recommended Dietary Allowance for Selenium is 55 micrograms per day, roughly equivalent to three to four eggs or 6 ounces of turkey. The Tolerable Upper Intake Level is set at 400 micrograms per day, which can be crossed with just a small handful of Brazil nuts. For people who do not have access to Tung Oil, I recommend 10 Brazil nuts a day ground down in your blender for easy administration.

However, these low amounts are never enough to treat cancer. From the above research, Selenium is a natural form of chemotherapy, and logic would lead us to assume, even at high doses, it would be much safer than standard forms of chemo, which everyone knows is highly toxic. There are many false assumptions deliberately thrown out to the public that almost everyone tends to believe, and the toxicity of Selenium is one of them. Taken in the lipid form, it is as safe as aspirin.