Antioxidants don't prevent colorectal cancer
Clinical Question
Can colorectal cancer risk be decreased with antioxidant supplements?
Bottom Line
Antioxidant supplementation for up to 6 years does not decrease the risk of colorectal adenomatous polyps and thus, by extension, does not reduce the risk of colorectal cancer. Vitamin E may increase the risk of colorectal adenoma. (LOE = 1a-)
Reference
Bjelakovic G, Nagorni A, Nikolova D, Simonetti RG, Bjelakovic M, Gluud C. Meta-analysis: antioxidant supplements for primary and secondary prevention of colorectal adenoma. Aliment Pharmacol Ther 2006;24:281-291. [PMID:16842454]
Study Design
Meta-analysis (randomized controlled trials)
Funding
Self-funded or unfunded
Setting
Outpatient (any)
Synopsis
The researchers conducted this analysis used standard methodology and searched 5 databases for all randomized trials comparing beta-carotene, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, or selenium with no treatment or placebo on the development of colorectal adenoma, a cancer precursor. They also searched for unpublished studies. They report that they used The Cochrane Collaboration methodology for conducting the meta-analysis but they don't give details of how they choose studies for inclusion or how they abstracted the data. They assessed the research for quality, identifying the studies as high quality or low quality according to study design. There was no publication bias. The 8 trials used in this analysis included a total of 17,260 participants, though most of the patients (88%) were in a single high-quality study. This study enrolled patients without previous adenoma; the rest of the studies enrolled participants with previously removed colorectal adenomas (6 studies) or previous colorectal cancer (1 study). Overall, there was no benefit of antioxidant supplementation on the development of colorectal adenoma. High-quality studies showed no effect or a slight increase of risk of adenoma with antioxidants; the small, low-quality studies found a benefit with antioxidants. When analyzed separately, none of the individual antioxidants had a beneficial effect on adenoma rates. Vitamin E, used in the largest study, produced a statistically significant increase in the risk of colorectal adenoma (relative risk = 1.7; 95% CI, 1.1-2.8).
Citation
Barry, Henry, et al., editors. "Antioxidants Don't Prevent Colorectal Cancer." EE+ POEM Archive, John Wiley & Sons, 2024. Evidence Central, evidence.unboundmedicine.com/evidence/view/infoPOEMs/426457/all/Antioxidants_don't_prevent_colorectal_cancer.
Antioxidants don't prevent colorectal cancer. In: Barry HH, Ebell MHM, Shaughnessy AFA, et al, eds. EE+ POEM Archive. John Wiley & Sons; 2024. https://evidence.unboundmedicine.com/evidence/view/infoPOEMs/426457/all/Antioxidants_don't_prevent_colorectal_cancer. Accessed December 8, 2024.
Antioxidants don't prevent colorectal cancer. (2024). In Barry, H., Ebell, M. H., Shaughnessy, A. F., & Slawson, D. C. (Eds.), EE+ POEM Archive. John Wiley & Sons. https://evidence.unboundmedicine.com/evidence/view/infoPOEMs/426457/all/Antioxidants_don't_prevent_colorectal_cancer
Antioxidants Don't Prevent Colorectal Cancer [Internet]. In: Barry HH, Ebell MHM, Shaughnessy AFA, Slawson DCD, editors. EE+ POEM Archive. John Wiley & Sons; 2024. [cited 2024 December 08]. Available from: https://evidence.unboundmedicine.com/evidence/view/infoPOEMs/426457/all/Antioxidants_don't_prevent_colorectal_cancer.
* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
TY - ELEC
T1 - Antioxidants don't prevent colorectal cancer
ID - 426457
ED - Barry,Henry,
ED - Ebell,Mark H,
ED - Shaughnessy,Allen F,
ED - Slawson,David C,
BT - EE+ POEM Archive
UR - https://evidence.unboundmedicine.com/evidence/view/infoPOEMs/426457/all/Antioxidants_don't_prevent_colorectal_cancer
PB - John Wiley & Sons
DB - Evidence Central
DP - Unbound Medicine
ER -