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11. Selenium Status & Cancer Incidence Relation in Punjab : Epidemiological Study.

Several experiments as well as epidemiological studies have indicated a negative correlation between selenium and cancer incidence. In general, selenium manifests its effects in the form of a lower cancer incidence, a reduction in tumour yield and longer latency period. Such inhibitory effects of selenium vis-à-vis cancer incidence have been reported at several sites as mammary gland, breast, lung, gastrointestinal tract and skin.

Selenium profile in India and particularly in Punjab had not been evaluated. In this project, an effort was made to study the correlation between concentration of Selenium in soil/water/food and the incidence of cancer in the population.

The project findings have indicated that the level of selenium in wheat grain, the staple food of Punjabis range between 0.12 to 0.985 ppm while selenium related disorders may appear in human beings if their diet containts either < 0.12 ppm or > 4-5 ppm selenium. Hence, it can be concluded that selenium content in diet of Punjabis is sufficient and is in no way related to the increasing incidence of cancer in the region.

Further, the project findings have provided information regarding differential distribution of selenium in different regions and accordingly the whole State of Punjab may be classified into three zones having high, medium and low selenium levels respectively. The regions with high selenium content in soil namely Ferozepur, Ludhiana and Jalandhar lie in the vicinity of two major rivers Satluj and Beas indicating that these rivers may carry the selenium deposit from Shivalik hills to these regions. The regions with intermediate selenium level viz. Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur, Ropar and Patiala also lie at the foot hills of Shivalik ranges.

Further, Serum Selenium levels of population have not shown a direct correlation with soil and water level in different districts suggesting that some other factors could modulate the serum selenium profile. The Principal Investigator was Dr. M.P.Bansal, Deptt. of Biophysics, Punjab University, Chandigarh.

Contact Person: Dr. J.K Arora, jkarora@pscst.com