Vitamin supplements among women with adenomatous polyps and cancer of the colon. Preliminary findings.

Overview

Chemoprevention of various epithelial cancers with vitamins or minerals has been the subject of multiple intervention trials to assess the impact of supplementation. These include several trials in patients with adenomatous polyps of the colon, a precursor lesion for colon cancer. The authors interviewed 255 women who underwent colonoscopy at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center between 1983 and 1985 with a telephone-administered structured questionnaire. Eleven interviews were excluded for various reasons. Overall, 57.7 percent of the 244 interviewees used vitamin pills on a regular basis (at least once a week for a year); 6.6 percent of the interviewees used vitamin A, 20.7 percent used vitamin C, and 16.2 percent used vitamin E. There were no statistically significant differences in vitamin usage among women with adenomatous polyps of the colon (105 cases), women with colon cancer (56 cases), and women without colonic neoplasia (83 cases). Despite widespread use of supplementary vitamins, this study failed to demonstrate major benefits in preventing colon polyps or cancer.