Vitamin B6, Methionine Linked to Lower Lung Cancer Risk

by -- Eric Metcalf
Updated: Jun 15th 2010

TUESDAY, June 15 (HealthDay News) -- Vitamin B6 and methionine levels are associated with lower risk of lung cancer, and factors associated with the decision to not undergo surgery for newly diagnosed lung cancer include black race and negative perceptions of doctor-patient communication and prognosis, according to two studies published in the June 16 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Mattias Johansson, Ph.D., of the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France, and colleagues analyzed data from 899 lung cancer cases and 1,770 matched controls drawn from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study. All had given blood samples. Higher serum levels of B6 were found to be associated with a lower risk of lung cancer (fourth versus first quartile odds ratio [OR], 0.44), and so were higher levels of serum methionine (fourth versus first quartile OR, 0.52).

Samuel Cykert, M.D., of the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research in Chapel Hill, N.C., and colleagues analyzed data from 386 patients with proven or probable early-stage lung cancer who took a survey before establishing treatment plans. The rate of lung cancer surgery within four months of diagnosis was 66 percent in whites and 55 percent in blacks. Negative perceptions of patient-physician communication and negative perception of one-year prognosis after surgery were linked to decisions against surgery (ORs, 0.42 and 0.27, respectively). In blacks, factors linked to particularly low surgical rates included having at least two comorbid illnesses or lack of a regular source of care.

"The report by Cykert et al reaffirms the disturbing fact that blacks with stage I or II non-small cell lung cancer are less likely than whites to undergo potentially curative surgical resection, and also provides important and somewhat unsettling insights into how stage I or II non-small cell lung cancer is managed in a diverse U.S. community," writes the author of an accompanying editorial.

A co-author of the first study disclosed a relationship with the Foundation to Promote Research Into Functional Vitamin B12 Deficiency. The EPIC study was funded in part by 3M Co.

Abstract - Johansson
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Abstract - Cykert
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Editorial (subscription or payment may be required)

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