Can selenium protect cancer cells from chemical damage?
Effects of variation in glutathione peroxidase activity on DNA damage and cell survival in human cells exposed to hydrogen peroxide and t-butyl hydroperoxide.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Reduced DNA damage did not improve cell survival.
Common belief is that antioxidants protect cells by reducing DNA damage—but here, even with 178–284% more enzyme activity, cells died at the same rate.
Practical Takeaways
Avoid high-dose selenium supplements if you have or are at risk for cancer—this study hints they might help tumors survive oxidative stress.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Reduced DNA damage did not improve cell survival.
Common belief is that antioxidants protect cells by reducing DNA damage—but here, even with 178–284% more enzyme activity, cells died at the same rate.
Practical Takeaways
Avoid high-dose selenium supplements if you have or are at risk for cancer—this study hints they might help tumors survive oxidative stress.
Publication
Journal
The Biochemical journal
Year
1990
Authors
B. Sandström, S. Marklund
Related Content
Claims (6)
During the production of thyroid hormones, hydrogen peroxide is generated and then removed by glutathione, a molecule that depends on selenium to function properly.
In laboratory-grown human cancer cells, adding a specific form of selenium reduces DNA damage from a chemical oxidant in one type of cell (mesothelioma) but not in another (colon cancer), showing that different cancer cells respond differently to the same treatment.
When human colon and mesothelioma cancer cells are exposed to 100 nM selenite, the activity of glutathione peroxidase increases significantly, while catalase activity remains unchanged, indicating a specific effect on one selenium-dependent enzyme.
In human cancer cells grown in the lab, hydrogen peroxide and t-butyl hydroperoxide do not produce detectable double-strand breaks or DNA-protein cross-links, indicating that the primary type of DNA damage caused by these substances under these conditions is single-strand breaks.
In laboratory-grown human cancer cells, adding a small amount of selenite boosts an enzyme that reduces DNA damage caused by hydrogen peroxide, but this does not help the cells survive the stress.