Vitamin E consumption could cut liver cancer risk

Consuming a diet rich in vitamin E could reduce the risk of developing liver cancer, according to a team of Chinese scientists writing in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

In a quantitative longitudinal study of men and women, researchers from Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center and the National Cancer Institute discovered fewer cases of liver cancer in participants who consumed a diet rich in vitamin E. Consumption of both dietary and supplement sources of vitamin E was associated with lower rates of liver cancer and the link was observed in participants with and without self-reported liver disease or a family history of liver cancer.

“We found a clear, inverse dose-response relation between vitamin E intake and liver cancer risk," said the researchers.

Conversely,  more cases of liver cancer were observed in participants who consumed extremely high amounts of vitamin C through supplementation and in those with a family history of liver cancer or self-reported liver disease. No link was established  between dietary consumption of vitamin C or other vitamins and liver cancer rates.