Do Not Take Vitamin E or Beta Carotene for Cancer Prevention, New Guidelines Say; How Beneficial Are Vitamin Supplements?

"The evidence shows there is no benefit to taking vitamin E and that beta-carotene can be harmful because it increases the risk of lung cancer in people already at risk, such as those who smoke, and also increases the risk of dying from heart disease or stroke,” Task Force member Dr. John Wong said in a statement.

In an earlier interview with SurvivorNet, Dr. Marleen Meyers, a medical oncologist and director of the Cancer Survivorship Program at NYU Perlmutter Cancer Center, explained that there aren’t any good studies that show that taking vitamin supplements are helpful for cancer.

“In fact, some vitamins and supplements actually can be negative, can go against your health if you take too much of it,” Dr. Meyers said.

Related: Do Vitamins Help Prevent Cancer? Strong New Evidence Argues "No"

According to these drafted guidelines, the USPSTF examined the role of Vitamin E and beta-carotene which led them to recommend against using them as a way to prevent cancer. Vitamin E can be found in certain types of foods such as cooking oils, nuts, and spinach. However, others can take this vitamin in supplement form. Ultimately Vitamin E is a the name for a collection of fat-soluble compounds with distinctive antioxidant activities. This can help break down food and boost the immune system.

Dr. Marleen Meyers breaks down the myth that vitamins are helpful during cancer

The Myth Between Vitamins & Cancer

Over the years, there’s been a lot of talk that taking vitamins can either help prevent cancer or treat it entirely. So far, there’s been no evidence to back that up. In addition to rumors about Vitamin E, Vitamin C and Vitamin D are commonly rumored to be effective in cancer treatment.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C is an anti-oxidant and does have numerous health benefits, but there are no definitive studies yet that show a significant benefit for the prevention or treatment of cancer. In fact, numerous studies have offered inconclusive results about the effectiveness of high-dose vitamin C in cancer treatment while others have suggested it may even be detrimental to cancer patients.

Related: "A Lot of People are Selling Hope": The Lure of Vitamins and Supplements

“I would love to believe that just taking high dose vitamin C could cure everybody of their cancer, but we know that that’s not true,” Dr. Elizabeth Comen, a medical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, told SurvivorNet in a previous interview. “We also know that in some instances high doses of vitamin C can be harmful, and potentially even help a cancer grow. So one of the things that we recommend is that women have a colorful diet, where they get a lot of their vitamins naturally from the environment around them.”

Dr. Elizabeth Comen explains why the Vitamin C myth isn’t valid

Vitamin D

When it comes to the connection between Vitamin D and cancer, it’s a bit more complex than other vitamins. Vitamin D serves an important role in making sure your body gets food and sunlight. However, new research suggests there's something about the way Vitamin D is processed in the body that drives some of the racial differences in prostate cancer between white and Black men. Turns out that Black men run higher risk for vitamin D deficiency than their white counterparts, which could play a role in cancer risk.

Related: What's the Link Between Vitamin D and Cancer? Can It Prevent or Stop Cancer?

That being said, there’s still no proof that Vitamin D can prevent cancer or treat it. The connection between vitamin D and cancer has been studied for years, and the results have been anything but conclusive. The current evidence is insufficient to support large-dose vitamin D supplementation for the purpose of cancer prevention and the majority of vitamin D intervention trials do not show a reduction in cancer risk.

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