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Nutritional Epidemiology

Antioxidant Supplementation Increases the Risk of Skin Cancers in Women but Not in Men¹

² UMR U557 Inserm/U1125 Inra/EA3200 Cnam/Univ Paris 13, Bobigny, France 93017; ³ Unité de Surveillance et d'Epidémiologie Nutritionnelle; Centre de Recherche en Nutrition Humaine Ile-de-France UFR SMBH Paris 13, Bobigny, France 93017; ⁴ Department of Dermatology, University Hospital Erasme, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Bruxelles, Belgium 1070; ⁵ Biometrics and Epidemiology Unit, CE.R.I.E.S., Neuilly sur Seine, France 92521; ⁶ Computer Science Laboratory, Ecole Polytechnique, Université de Tours, Tours, France 37200; ⁷ EA 3444, Ecole de Santé Publique, Epidémiologie clinique, Faculté de Médecine, CHU Nancy, France 54035; ⁸ Laboratoire Lésions des Acides Nucléiques, UMR CNRS-CEA-UJF 5046, Grenoble, France 38000; and ⁹ EA 3677 and Centre René-Labusquière (Tropical Medicine and International Health Branch), Université Victor Segalen Bordeaux 2 and Department of Internal Medicine and Tropical Diseases, University Hospital Center, Bordeaux, France 33076

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: hercberg{at}cnam.fr.

This research aimed to test whether supplementation with a combination of antioxidant vitamins and minerals could reduce the risk of skin cancers (SC). It was performed within the framework of the Supplementation in Vitamins and Mineral Antioxidants study, a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, primary prevention trial testing the efficacy of nutritional doses of antioxidants in reducing incidence of cancer and ischemic heart disease in the general population. French adults (7876 women and 5141 men) were randomized to take an oral daily capsule of antioxidants (120 mg vitamin C, 30 mg vitamin E, 6 mg ß-carotene, 100 µg selenium, and 20 mg zinc) or a matching placebo. The median time of follow-up was 7.5 y. A total of 157 cases of all types of SC were reported, from which 25 were melanomas. Because the effect of antioxidants on SC incidence varied according to gender, men and women were analyzed separately. In women, the incidence of SC was higher in the antioxidant group [adjusted hazard ratio (adjusted HR) = 1.68; P = 0.03]. Conversely, in men, incidence did not differ between the 2 treatment groups (adjusted HR = 0.69; P = 0.11). Despite the small number of events, the incidence of melanoma was also higher in the antioxidant group for women (adjusted HR = 4.31; P = 0.02). The incidence of nonmelanoma SC did not differ between the antioxidant and placebo groups (adjusted HR = 1.37; P = 0.22 for women and adjusted HR = 0.72; P = 0.19 for men). Our findings suggest that antioxidant supplementation affects the incidence of SC differentially in men and women.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. C. Green, M. C. Hughes, T. I. Ibiebele, G. M. Williams, J. C. van der Pols, and J.-P. Ortonne Antioxidant Supplementation and Risk of Skin Cancers J. Nutr., May 1, 2008; 138(5): 978 - 978. [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. Ezzedine, D. Malvy, S. Briancon, and S. Hercberg Reply to Dr. Green et al. J. Nutr., May 1, 2008; 138(5): 979 - 979. [Full Text] [PDF]

				G. N. Schrauzer Antioxidant Supplementation Increases Skin Cancer Risk, or, Why Zinc Should Not Be Considered an Antioxidant J. Nutr., April 1, 2008; 138(4): 820 - 820. [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. Ezzedine, S. Hercberg, A. Favier, and D. Malvy Reply to Dr. Schrauzer J. Nutr., April 1, 2008; 138(4): 821 - 822. [Full Text] [PDF]