Adding Selenium to Chemotherapy and Radiation in Haematological Malignancies: Clinical Trials Are Justified

Therapeutic Benefits of Selenium in Hematological Malignancies

“…Reduced serum selenium levels in patients with hematological malignancies have been correlated with poorer chemotherapy dose delivery, tumor response, and survival [ 188 , 189 ]. A lower cancer incidence was shown upon providing selenium compounds to selenium-deficient patients [ 18 , 190 ].…”

“…Selenium has been established to be a therapeutically beneficial nutritional supplement for cancer patients, and selenium supplements are often prescribed to patients with hematological malignancies [ 190 , 191 ]. Morel et al found that a selenium-supplemented diet consumed by survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia protected these patients from low HDL-C and cardiometabolic complications after cancer treatment [ 192 ].…”

“…It was also shown by Rocha et al that pediatric leukemia or lymphoma patients that received dietary supplementation with selenium had lower neutropenic incidences and diminished IgG and IgA levels [ 193 ]. However, clinical studies have utilized various doses and different selenium compounds, primarily SS and SLM, indicating that further investigations are necessary to establish the most efficacious dose and the pharmacodynamic endpoints of these clinically-employed compounds [ 190 ]. Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and patients with solid malignancies, as part of a phase I clinical study, received 400 μg of elemental selenium as either SS, MSC, or SLM for eight weeks to establish the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetic profile of these agents [ 69 ].…”

“…Preclinical and clinical studies have demonstrated the anticancer activities exhibited by selenocompounds and their potential to work synergistically with current cancer therapies [ 69 , 190 ]. Researchers have reported that the incorporation of selenium compounds into various conventional chemotherapy regimens, hormonal drugs, or radiation treatments enhances their therapeutic properties while diminishing some of their toxicities [ 93 , 194 , 195 ].…”

“…This study indicates the potential for selenium to improve the prognosis of NHL patients [ 158 ]. Clinical studies have reported decreased chemotherapeutic associated toxicities in patients with hematological malignancies upon supplementing their treatment with selenium [ 64 , 158 , 190 , 197 ]. Larger clinical studies are needed to establish the most effective doses of selenocompounds and to extensively study the long-term therapeutic effects, toxicities, and potential secondary malignancies imparted by selenium to advance conventional cancer therapy in patients with hematological malignancies [ 65 , 190 ].…”