New Zealand: Selenium compounds as therapeutic agents in cancer patients

Comparative Safety and Pharmacokinetic Evaluation of Three Oral Selenium Compounds in Cancer Patients

Stephen O. Evans, Gregory M. Jacobson, Hugh J. B. Goodman, Steve Bird, Michael B. Jameson |Department of Biological Sciences, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand; Waikato Clinical Campus, University of Auckland, Hamilton, New Zealand; Regional Cancer Centre, Waikato Hospital, Private Bag 3200, Hamilton 3240, New Zealand | 2018 | Biological Trace Element Research| DOI: 10.1007/s12011-018-1501-0

Selenium compounds have proven to inhibit the growth of malignant cells in cancer patients. As there a many forms of selenium compounds, the study compared three forms of selenium: inorganic compound sodium selenite (SS) and organic compounds seleno-L-methionine (SLM) and Se-methylselenocysteine (MSC), to determine their differential effects on cancer patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia or metastatic solid malignancies. A safety analysis of the selenium compounds was performed using the MIC to determine the genotoxicity of each compound. DNA damage was measured using qPCR by calculating nuclear DNA and mitochondrial DNA lesion rates relative to DNA extraction from pretreatment blood samples.