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Selenium in colorectal and differentiated thyroid cancer

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Abstract

The current review aims to provide a brief overview of developments in the research field of selenium and cancer. The focus is on two tissues that show a rising incidence of cancer cases each year, namely the colon and the thyroid. Effects of adequate selenium concentrations on tumor development are most probably mediated by selenoproteins. However, the role of selenoproteins changes during the carcinogenic process as well as in a tissue-specific manner. During the initiation phase, selenoproteins protect cells from oxidative DNA damage and thus appear to inhibit tumor development, whereas, in already existing tumor cells, selenoproteins might, on the contrary, support their growth and thus reduce the survival probability of patients.

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Abbreviations

CRC:

Colorectal cancer

PTC:

Papillary thyroid carcinoma

SELENO:

Selenoprotein

GPX:

Glutathione peroxidase

TXNRD:

Thioredoxin reductase

SELECT:

Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial

EPIC:

European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study

SEPHS2:

Selenophosphate synthase 2

DIO:

Deiodinase

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Acknowledgments

Many thanks to Kristina Lossow and Solveigh Koeberle for critically reading the manuscript.

Funding

The author was funded by the DFG Research Unit TraceAge (FOR 2558).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Nutritional Sciences, Molecular Nutritional Physiology, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Dornburger Str. 24, D-07743, Jena, Germany

    Anna P. Kipp

  2. TraceAge – DFG Research Unit on Interactions of Essential Trace Elements in Healthy and Diseased Elderly, Potsdam-Berlin-Jena, Germany

    Anna P. Kipp

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Kipp, A.P. Selenium in colorectal and differentiated thyroid cancer. Hormones 19, 41–46 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42000-019-00118-4

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