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Dear Participant:

First we want to thank you for taking part in SELECT! As you know, SELECT follow-up is scheduled to continue for several more years. During that time, we expect results of other research studies to be released. Here are the results of two recently published studies.

New Results on Selenium and Skin Cancer

Researchers published updated results on a study of skin cancer and selenium. The study showed that people on this study who took selenium (200 mcg) every day had a 17% higher rate of basal cell and squamous cell skin cancer than people who took a placebo. These cancers are not the more dangerous kind of skin cancer (melanoma). The 1,312 people in this study were at high risk for skin cancer because they had a lot of exposure to the sun. All of them had previously had one of these skin cancers. Therefore, we do not know whether these research findings would apply to
  1. people without a prior history of skin cancer,
  2. people without a lot of sun exposure and
  3. African Americans who are at low risk for any skin cancers.
In order to find any increase in risk for men on SELECT, we will be asking you questions about skin cancers as part of your routine visits.

Name of the Article: Selenium supplementation and secondary prevention of nonmelanoma skin cancer in a randomized trial.
Authors: Duffield-Lillico AJ, Slate EH, Reid ME, Turnbull BW, et al. Nutritional Prevention of Cancer Study Group.
Journal: Journal of the National Cancer Institute 95:1477-1481, 2003.

Finasteride and Prostate Cancer

On June 23, 2003, results from the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial (PCPT) were released. This study was designed to see if the drug finasteride, also known as Proscar®, could prevent prostate cancer in men ages 55 and older. 18,882 men took either finasteride or placebo for 7 years. At the end of seven years, the participants were offered a prostate biopsy to see whether or not they had prostate cancer.

These data show that the men in the finasteride group were about 25% less likely to get prostate cancer than the men who were in the placebo group. Although men taking finasteride had fewer prostate cancers, they had a greater number of high grade prostate cancers. This type of cancer can spread quickly even if the tumor is small. In the entire group of men taking finasteride who were biopsied, 6% had high grade cancers while 5% of men on placebo had high grade cancers. Almost all the prostate cancers found during the study were found in an early stage, when they are very treatable. The reason men on finasteride had more high grade cancers is unknown. The researchers are still studying this. You may remain on SELECT whether or not you take finasteride. We will continue to ask you about your finasteride use at your routine visits.

Name of the Article: The influence of finasteride on the development of prostate cancer
Authors: Thompson IM, Goodman PJ, Tangen CM, Lucia MS, et al.
Journal: New England Journal of Medicine 349: 213-222, 2003.

Many thanks for your continued commitment to SELECT!
SELECTHelpdesk@lyris.crab.org
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