Ecologic study of serum selenium and upper gastrointestinal cancers in Iran.
OBJECTIVE
Both observational and experimental studies have shown that higher selenium status reduces the risk of upper gastrointestinal cancers in selenium deficient populations. Recent cancer registry data have shown very different rates of esophageal cancer (EC) and gastric cancer (GC) in four Provinces of Iran, namely Ardabil, Mazandaran, Golestan, and Kerman. The aim of this study was to have a preliminary assessment of the hypothesis that high rates of EC in Golestan and high rates of GC in Ardabil may be partly attributable to selenium deficiency.


METHODS
We measured serum selenium in 300 healthy adults from Ardabil (n = 100), Mazandaran (n = 50), Golestan (n = 100), and Kerman (n = 50), using inductively coupled plasma, with dynamic reaction cell, mass spectrometry (ICP-DRC-MS) at the US Centers for Disease Control (Atlanta, Georgia).


RESULTS
The median serum selenium concentrations were very different in the four Provinces. The medians (IQR) for selenium in Ardabil, Mazandarn, Golestan, and Kerman were 82 (75-94), 123 (111-132), 155 (141-173), and 119 (110-128) microg/L, respectively (P<0.001). The results of linear regression showed that the Province variable, by itself, explained 76% of the variance in log selenium (r2 = 0.76). The proportion of the populations with a serum selenium more than 90 microg/L (the concentration at which serum selenoproteins are saturated) was 100% in Golestan, Kerman, and Mazandaran but only 29% in Ardabil.


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings suggest that selenium deficiency is not a major contributor to the high incidence of EC seen in northeastern Iran, but it may play a role in the high incidence of GC in Ardabil Province.
Nouarie
Mehdi
M
Digestive Disease Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran.
Pourshams
Akram
A
Kamangar
Farin
F
Sotoudeh
Masood
M
Derakhshan
Mohammad Hossein
MH
Akbari
Mohammad Reza
MR
Fakheri
Hafez
H
Zahedi
Mohammad Javad
MJ
Caldwell
Kathleen
K
Abnet
Christian C
CC
Taylor
Philip R
PR
Malekzadeh
Reza
R
Dawsey
Sanford M
SM
D000328:Adult; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D012643:Selenium / Q000097:blood*; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology*
D012643:Selenium