Vitamin E May Curb Cancer Risk

ORLANDO, March 28 -- Getting plenty of vitamin E by eating such foods as nuts and olive oil appears to cut in half people's risk of bladder cancer, the fourth leading cancer killer among men, a study says.

The research, released at a cancer conference Sunday, is the latest blip in the ups and downs of perceptions about this nutrient's powers to ward off disease. Experts once had high hopes for vitamin E as a safeguard against heart attacks, but repeated studies failed to show any protective effect.

Whether vitamin E does anything to stop cancer is far from proven, but some think the vitamin may be helpful, perhaps by warding off the damaging effects of oxygen. The study was based on questionnaires about the eating habits of about 1,000 Houston residents. Those whose vitamin E intake was in the top 25 percent had half as much bladder cancer as those in the lowest quarter.

Bladder cancer kills about 12,500 Americans annually and is four times more common in men than women.