THIS WEEK'S QUESTION

Q. I have heard that a vitamin A-like drug causes breast cancers in older women. Should I be concerned?

A. You need not be concerned if you are taking a natural form of vitamin A. However, a recent study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (November 3, 1999) did uncover some surprising findings about a synthetic vitamin A variant called fenretinide.

At the conclusion of a five-year study in women who had previously had breast cancer, fenretinide decreased the incidence of cancers in the opposite breast in premenopausal women. However,in postmenopausal women there was an opposite effect, with more cancers.

"Women treated with fenretinide...were at lower risk up to the age of about 56 years and possibly at slightly greater risk thereafter," the Italian authors wrote.

INSULIN-LIKE GROWTH FACTOR-1

These results are still being analyzed around the world. In premenopausal women, fenretinide counteracts insulin-like growth factor-1, a substance that promotes cancer growth. But why the rate of second cancers was higher in older women is a mystery.

There is no indication that this need concern women taking natural vitamin A, especially when it is combined with other antioxidants, such as vitamins C, E, selenium, etc. My advice for women who are trying to prevent a recurrence of breast cancer is still to get 10,000 to 20,000 IU per day of vitamin A in the form of natural food supplements.

We have a Moss Report on the topic of breast cancer as we have for most other types of cancer. Please see my book, Cancer Therapy for a fuller discussion of vitamin A. I also will have much more to say in my forthcoming (January, 2000) book, Antioxidants Against Cancer.

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Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D. is director of the The Moss Reports for cancer patients. Dr. Moss is the author of eleven books and three documentaries on cancer-related topics. He is or has been an advisor on alternative cancer treatments to the National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Institute, the American Urological Association, Columbia University, the University of Texas, the Susan G. Komen Foundation and the German Society of Oncology. He wrote the first article on alternative medicine for the Encyclopedia Britannica yearbook. He is listed in Marquis Who's Who in America, Who's Who in the World, Who's Who in the East, and Who's Who in Entertainment (as a film documentarian). This Web site does not advocate any particular treatment for cancer. We urge you to always seek competent medical advice for all health problems, especially cancer. Before consulting our site please read our full Disclaimer statement.

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