Use of multivitamins and prostate cancer mortality in a large cohort of US men.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the association between the use of multivitamins and prostate cancer mortality.


METHODS
A total of 5585 deaths from prostate cancer were identified during 18 years of follow-up of 475,726 men who were cancer-free and provided complete information on multivitamin use at enrollment in the Cancer Prevention Study II (CPS-II) cohort in 1982. Cox proportional hazards modeling was used to measure the association between multivitamin use at baseline and death from prostate cancer and to adjust for potential confounders.


RESULTS
The death rate from prostate cancer was marginally higher among men who took multivitamins regularly (> or =15 times/month) compared to non-users (multivariate rate ratio=1.07, 95% CI: 0.99-1.15); this risk was statistically significant only for those multivitamin users who used no additional (vitamin A, C, or E) supplements (multivariate rate ratio=1.15, 95% CI: 1.05-1.26). In addition, risk was greatest during the initial four years of follow-up (1982-1986, multivariate rate ratio=1.12, 95 CI: 0.87-1.46).


CONCLUSIONS
Regular multivitamin use was associated with a small increase in prostate cancer death rates in our study, and this association was limited to a subgroup of users.
Stevens
Victoria L
VL
Department of Epidemiology and Surveillance Research, American Cancer Society, 1599 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30329, USA. Victoria.Stevens@cancer.org
McCullough
Marjorie L
ML
Diver
W Ryan
WR
Rodriguez
Carmen
C
Jacobs
Eric J
EJ
Thun
Michael J
MJ
Calle
Eugenia E
EE
D000368:Aged; D015331:Cohort Studies; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009026:Mortality / Q000639:trends; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012307:Risk Factors; D015996:Survival Rate; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014815:Vitamins / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects
D014815:Vitamins