The health benefits of dietary supplements have long been a subject of hot debate, but now Norwegian researchers have convincing evidence that supplements improve the rate of survival of women diagnosed with solid tumor cancers. Their study, which will be published in the September 2009 issue of the International Journal of Cancer, shows that women with solid tumors had better survival rates if they had used dietary supplements in the year before they were diagnosed.
The new study was conducted by researchers at the University of Tromso using data collected from participants in the Norwegian Women and Cancer study. Data on the type and frequency of supplementation was drawn from questionnaires completed by the women between 1996 and 1999. The study analyzed data on 4,242 women who were diagnosed with their first cancer between the time they completed the questionnaires and the year 2007. The types of cancer the researchers analyzed in the study were solid tumor cancers including lung, colorectal, and breast.
The dietary supplement most often used by the Norwegian women was cod liver oil, but also included minerals and multivitamins. The women who had taken cod liver oil on a daily basis during the year before they were diagnosed with a solid tumor cancer had a startling 23 percent lower risk of dying during the time period studied than women who never used supplements.
Further, victims of lung cancer significantly lowered their risk of death by the use of supplements—users of cod liver oil had an astounding 44 percent lower risk, and users of other supplements had a similar rate of 45 percent or 30 percent, depending on the type of supplementation and whether use was daily or occasional. The researchers made adjustments for each woman’s age, smoking habits, and stage of cancer.
The researchers, who said their study is not the first to observe the link between supplements and survival of lung cancer, concluded that “more research is needed to understand the interplay between nutrients whether in food or supplements, and cancer survival.”
In the United States, multivitamins and minerals are used by more than half the population.
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