Effects of alpha tocopherol (AT) in prostate cancer (PCa): a systematic review

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men, and studies have shown the relationship between prostate cancer and vitamin E, specifically alpha tocopherol (AT). This systematic review was conducted on the effects of AT in prostate cancer (PCa). This study included 79 articles ( 44 articles in human studies, 10 articles in animal studies and 25 articles in cell culture studies) that were identified through Pubmed and EMBASE database searches and examinantion of the review articles. Human studies showed that there were no strong evidence for a beneficial impact of AT in PCa. The outcomes of these studies are contradictory inconsistent. AT studies conducted for prevention of PCa resulted inconsistent results which supplementation of AT resulted lower incidence of prostate cancer in the Alpha-tocopherol, Beta carotene Cancer Prevention (ATBC) study and a higher incidence in Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT) study. Therefore, The impact of AT on prostate cancer remains uncertain. The study that has been carried out before have been limited to AT alone. However, recent study involves various derivatives of AT such as vitamin E succinate (VES) in cell culture studies. The experimental studies showed that beneficial effect of VES as antiproliferative in cancer cells. Diverse types of AT derivatives seem to apply distinctive consequences for PCa. In regards with these positive outcomes, further studies are needed to clarify the potential antioxidant properties of AT and different forms of its derivatives against prostate cancer.