Vitamin B6 Cuts Colon Cancer Risk
(HealthDayNews, 5/4/05)

Esther K. Wei of Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital, and team, reviewed blood samples taken in 1989 from 33,000 female participants in the long-term Nurses' Health Study. The team matched levels of pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP), the active form of vitamin B6 in the blood, against medical records that showed which subjects had contracted colon or colorectal cancer. The researchers found that subjects with the highest PLP levels were less likely to develop polyps or colorectal or colon cancer than their peers with lower levels of this substance. These findings suggest that maintaining high daily levels of vitamin B6 may reduce the risk of getting colon cancer. The scientists speculate that high B6 levels may protect DNA from damage that may result in cancer.

(Journal of the National Cancer Institute, May 4, 2005)