Heavy Multivitamin Use May Raise Prostate Cancer Risk

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The finding does confirm the results of an even larger study reported two years ago by investigators at the American Cancer Society.

They followed almost a half-million men for 18 years and wrote that, "the death rate from prostate cancer was marginally higher among men who took multivitamins regularly (15 or more times a month) compared to nonusers."

The increased risk in the study was smaller -- about 7 percent overall, 12 percent in the first four years of follow-up. It was not found in men who took additional supplements of vitamins such as A, C and E.

That difference might be due to the way the ACS study counted the use of the supplements, said Victoria Stevens, a society epidemiologist and lead author of the report. In both studies, the increased risk was seen essentially in men who took the most supplements, Steven said.

"Overall, the observations are similar," Stevens said.

As for advice about multivitamins, she said the society has already advised against them -- not just for prostate cancer, but in general.

"We have our standard guidelines that don't really recommend the use of multivitamin supplements," Stevens said. "We feel that the best way for people to get their vitamins is through natural food sources. Pregnant women and others who might need them should use balanced, basic multivitamin supplements that give no more than they get from the daily diet."

More information

There's more on prostate cancer at the U.S. National Cancer Institute.