Stephen A. Levine, PhD

I contributed a letter to the Townsend e-Letter in February 2023 on the topic of sodium selenite and cancer.¹ I’d seen enough clinically and from the pertinent PubMed literature that I was compelled to share it. My report has led other doctors to try this simple and inexpensive approach. Here are four compelling, documented cases from their doctors, and a fifth of some interest. In the first four cases, sodium selenite has produced rapid, decisive laboratory evidence and/or physical examination and systematic recovery. The fifth case is provocative. Five cases are not a lot, but there are only eight or ten other cases that I know of, where patients had tried and discontinued taking selenite because of GI intolerance, or loss of interest. One patient clearly did not respond after over one year of selenite treatment.

#1 Prostate Patient – Letter from John Apsley, ND, DC  (February 13, 2023)

“I just wanted everyone to know that I placed a stage 4 prostate case partly in remission on 5 mg of selenium from Selenium High Dose Drops TM and brought his PSA down from 64 to 18, all from Stephen’s bringing this information to me several weeks ago. One week ago, imaging shows zero growth of all lesions, with radiologist reporting that there was no growth in process. Got to protect eyes though from forming cataracts if staying on supplement for longer than 2 months.”

This is a strong case. Cataracts had not been reported before in the three human studies in which much higher oral doses were used.  I.V. studies do not mention this.  However, it’s certainly possible in that selenite is acting as an oxidant. Possibly, the use of cataract protective nutrients simultaneously, but outside of the 1-hour window of food and drink absence, may provide protection without compromising the treatment efficacy. This would need to be determined experimentally.

#2 Metastatic Breast Cancer: K. Weirs, MD

The patient is an 83-year-old female. Pico Selenite™ at 350 ug per day reversed cancer markers spikes after only 2 months. Then, two additional months of selenite treatment revealed further dramatic CEA and CA 27.29 reductions with the CEA fully returning to baseline.

This patient has a history of chronic illness initiated by an unreported 12-year exposure to the pesticide chlordane in her public-school classroom, which left her acutely and permanently chemically sensitive. She had a hysterectomy for a uterine adenoma fourteen years after the initial chlordane exposure but no evidence of this cancer in subsequent years. Thirty years after this first cancer diagnosis, a lesion in her spine was diagnosed as metastatic breast cancer. In the following years she endured mastectomies and a corpectomy at T12, which was the site of the cancerous lesion.

At the initial time that the selenium was started, the cancer had metastasized from the spine to both hips and both shoulders. Despite the complex history and metastatic cancer in this patient, the selenium treatment reversed the cancer markers in these standard tests.

Recent Tumor Markers July 2022 – August 2023

Test Standard

CA 15-3: Cancer Antigen 15-3 is a marker released into the blood and is used to monitor metastatic cancer.

CA 27.29: Cancer Antigen 27.29 is a cancer marker that measures the glycoprotein produced by the mucin-1 gene. CEA is a protein normally found in the tissue of a developing baby in the womb. The blood level of this protein disappears or becomes very low after birth. In adults, an abnormal level of CEA may be a sign of cancer and is used to measure metastatic cancer. A reduced CA 27.29 level indicates a good response to treatment.

On 4/20/23, she began taking selenium as Pico Selenite™ at a dose of 5 drops (35ug/drop) twice a day for a total of 350 ug per day.

The sharp decrease in CEA (Graph 1), this most important marker, demonstrates the repeatability of the testing and continued therapeutic action of the selenite on tumor metastasis. The dramatic effectiveness of this turn-around recovery is visually obvious on the 2 graphs.

The second graph is the CA 27.29. This cancer marker had doubled and increased a further 12% before the use of selenite. On selenite, this marker also turned around dramatically at two and four months, bringing it close to the baseline.  

#3 Breast Cancer Treated with Selenite – David Mathews, MD

The patient is a 48-year-old female. She had an ultrasound on April 5, 2023. The ultrasound revealed a 6x5x7 mm tumor in the breast.

She had a needle biopsy on April 15, 2023, which was positive for cancer. Three days later, on April 18, she started a dose 350 ug of Pico Selenite™ per day.

She had an MRI done on April 26 and the tumor size was 8x5x6 mm, which was just slightly larger than the previous measurement.

One month later, after starting the selenite, on May 18, 2023, the tumor was surgically removed. The tumor size was described by the pathologist as “4 mm in maximum.”  Based upon this information and linear dimensions, the tumor appeared to be about 1/3 smaller.

#4 Early Stage 1 Breast Cancer in 60-year-old Female – Amalya Sargsyan

Amalya noticed some bleeding, a brown liquid, from the breast associated with a red area that looked like it was from a cut, but there was no cut.  She then identified a very hard structure “like a rock” at that site in the breast.  She went to the gynecologist, and after one week, noticed blood from her vagina. 

The gynecologist told her to remove uterus and ovaries because of the bleeding.  “He told her that for women over 60 who had this kind of bleeding. cancer has started.”  A biopsy was taken, and then an MRI was done on November 9, 2023.  Cancer was identified where the bleeding had come from as a breast carcinoma, estimated size 2cm x 2cm x 1.5cm.  On January 22, 2024, she had surgical removal of the uterus and ovary. However, the uterus and ovary were clear, only the localized breast lump showed positive for cancer.  

From the MRI, “there is a stippled non-mass enhancement 5.6 cm anteriorly towards the nipple, from the area of the dominant mass, which is indeterminant, in the left lower inner breast.  No other suspicious finding in either breast….There was no axillary or internal mammary adenopathy.”  The surgeon told Amalya that she had the first-stage cancer and directed her to take a pharmaceutical estrogen blocker.   

Amalya, however, did not take the estrogen blocker, and she didn’t tell her doctor.  The doctor examined her after she had been taking 10 drops of Pico Selenite™ for 30 days.  Dramatically, her cancer was softer and smaller.  I quote from the doctor:  “Oh My God, the estrogen blocker is really working.“ 

Patient did not respond.  Doctor says they rarely see this kind of improvement this fast with only a hormone blocker. The only things that the patient has taken is the selenite daily for three months, and arnica as needed.  She has no pain, works full time, and her energy level is good. 

#5 Stage 4 Prostate Cancer Patient Experiences a Dramatic Decrease in PSA After Taking Selenite – K. Weirs, MD

A stage four prostate cancer patient was receiving an extensive treatment program, with IV vitamin C twice weekly (75 grams) and numerous other therapies. “We were testing for cancer markers frequently.”  The patient’s initial treatments brought PSA down from 1200 to 43.6, which is itself a dramatic decline in two months. Then the liquid Pico Selenite™ was introduced on 12/ 22/22. The PSA continued down, all the way to .3 for 3 consecutive readings. 

The PSA has stayed below 1 over 8 testing periods up through September 27, 2023, even though I.V. vitamin C, at 75 grams, and a signaling compound LDI 500 had been discontinued.

Further Discussion of Cases

These four cases have dramatic elements in terms of fast response to treatment based on cancer markers or other laboratory tests. In the last case, we see stunningly low PSAs under one, for 8 months, until the bimonthly testing was stopped. But there was also rapid response early in the case before selenite was introduced.

#1 Prostate Cancer

Dr. John Apsley’s February 13, 2023, email to ten doctors and others discussed findings he achieved with a prostate patient using sodium selenite, Selenium High Dose Drops™.

Dr. Apsley’s prostate cancer patient saw his PSA drop sharply and the radiologist stated that there was “no disease in progress.” His comment related to selenite and cataracts was of interest as cataracts are caused by oxidative stress on the lens protein and lens lipids.²

In studies that I’d read, I hadn’t seen reports of cataracts in humans nor animals, so it’s likely that there was a preexisting vulnerability in his patient. Selenite is believed to mediate its anticancer activity within the one or two hours after drinking it in water via complex oxidative redox effects. These patients were told not to eat nor drink for two hours before and after taking the selenite. Some of this was reported in the Translational Oncology study.³  Now patients are being told, by their doctors herein, not to eat or drink for one hour after taking selenite and to take it in the morning, on an empty stomach in pure water. It’s important to mention this, so users will not endanger the profound selenite oxidative effects by food and liquids other than water. However, using protective antioxidants such as zeaxanthin, lycopene, bilberry and or vitamin C, after the abstinence period could offer protection from cataract formation.

It is unclear if using protective antioxidants will interfere with the selenite treatment effectiveness. This would vary depending on the patient’s biochemistry and the strength and stability of the antioxidant supplements in the blood and other tissues. There are antioxidant supplements such as methylene blue and possibly vitamin C, that may compromise the oxidative therapeutics of selenite for a longer period, and that’s why I suggest taking on empty stomach in the morning.

#2 Metastatic Breast

The 83-year-old female had been sick for most of her adult life. Therefore, this dramatic turnaround in these cancer markers at this late age are more striking. In late 2022, and early 2023, she saw dramatic increase of CEA and Ca 27.29 markers, which were reversed by taking the selenite for 4 months. The CEA marker is used for people who have colorectal, breast, lung, ovarian and thyroid cancers and to evaluate potential metastasis. It is used to see how treatments like chemotherapy, immunotherapy and radiation are working. So, the CEA and these other markers, taken together, are likely providing an accurate indication of the oncological status of the patient. In this case, it was a very pleasant surprise to all involved.

#3 Breast Cancer

Within one month of taking a very moderate dose of Pico Selenite™, the patient’s tumor, which had been stable, was reduced in size by approximately one-third based on the linear dimensions of the tumor.

We should, however, consider the tumor as a three-dimensional growth, and the dimensions in this case, being roughly equal, suggest a possible spherical or modified spherical shape. This approach should give us greater insight into what these measurements indicate.

We can calculate the volume of a sphere with the formula below.

V = 4/3 π r3

V = volume; r = radius; Pi = 3.14

To calculate the volume of this tumor, I used the most recent size estimate, by MRI, prior to surgery, which was 8x5x6 mm, and choose 6 as the diameter.

The volume of the tumor from the MRI estimated dimensions is then 113.0 mm

When the tumor was removed, the pathologist represented the size as 4x4x4 mm

“in maximum.” The volume after surgery, according to the formula above, is 33.50 mm³ ( “in maximum), which indicates a 70% reduction in volume had occurred after one month on moderate levels of selenite.

From a report as of 11-15-23, the patient is apparently recovered.

#4 Breast Cancer

This case is quite interesting. A rock-hard breast lump is now soft and smaller. Symptoms of bleeding from the breast are gone as well as her pain. But maybe most interesting and insightful are two quotes from the surgeon, “Oh my God, the estrogen blocker is really working!” and “We rarely see this kind of improvement this fast with only hormone blocker.”  The point I’m making here is that the patient did not take the estrogen blocker. She only took 10 drops of Pico Selenite™ for 30 days and arnica as needed for pain in the early stages.

#5 Stage 4 Prostate Cancer

The Pico Selenite™ was the only remedy introduced at that time, and thereafter as far as Dr. Weirs and the patient recall. The intravenous vitamin C could have been a big gun in this treatment, but when that was removed along with a signaling remedy, the PSA continued to go down below one and stay there.

The continuity, and repeatability of the data suggests the testing is accurate, especially the repeatability of the .3 PSA on three consecutive readings. The very low level of PSA is unusual.  Frequent lab testing has been deemed unnecessary and rescheduled. Was the selenite involved?

Discussion of Publications

I discussed some of the basic research on the anti-tumor effects of selenite in my first letter to the editor.  I previously quoted heavily from the Translational Oncology article published in 2019.³ Let us look at the first sentence in the article. “In preclinical studies, selenite had single agent activity and radio sensitized tumors in vivo.”³ It suggests that the authors probably know that selenite itself has “stand alone” anti-cancer effects.  Another quote from this same journal supports my contention.

Our results as well as those of other groups, support the novel idea that selenium in the form of selenite, can be used to treat prostate as well as other types of cancers. Importantly selenite is metabolized differently from organic forms of selenium and the key difference being that the metabolism of selenite depletes cancer cells of glutathione and results in the generation of superoxide, a highly reactive and toxic radical that results in the generation of other reactive oxygen species (ROS).³

I quote from a more recent article below:

Selenium compounds have emerged as nutritional supplements with the most consistent anti-cancer effects among several micronutrient effects tested in animal experiments and in clinical trials in humans.⁴

Cancer is the leading cause of death for people in the world. In 2020, more than 19 million new incidences occurred and nearly 10 million cancer deaths as estimated by WHO.  Most of cancer deaths are mainly related to tumor metastasis.⁴

We would like to emphasize that higher amounts of sodium selenite can be used to block cancer incidence, tumor invasion and metastasis and further high levels of selenite can be used as an adjuvant therapy of radiation and with anti-cancer drugs in patients with advanced cancer.⁴

Patients tolerate 5 mg or more of selenite.⁴ In the earlier study,³ doses up to 33 mg per day, orally, were mostly well tolerated. When higher doses are used, selenium levels then return to a more normal level in 24 hours, which is less than 260 ug/L 24 hours after injection.

We postulate that the relatively short half-life of selenite and its better absorption into cancer cells would make it more toxic to cancer cells and therefore less toxic to normal cells. It seems that sodium selenite is an excellent drug to treat cancer patients.⁴

This statement above provides some explanation of why, at least in part, relatively high doses of sodium selenite appear to be surprisingly well tolerated. I suggested this in my first article but here we see some confirmation that the selenite is selectively absorbed into the tumor cells thereby shielding the host from the toxic effects that we might have expected.

The results with sodium selenite in conjunction with radiation therapy and chemotherapies have led to deeper investigation into some of the mechanisms, primary active agents, and other related work aiming at the development of patentable drugs. However, this presentation may be the beginning of the realization among practicing physicians that nature has already created this precious therapeutic gem.

P53 Connection to Prostate Cancer

The p53 is a tumor suppressor gene. It can function to stop the formation of tumors. If a person inherits only one functional copy of the p53 gene, rather than two copies, they can be predisposed to cancer.

The tumor suppressor p53 is known to play a vital role in preventing development and progression of cancer by virtue of its control over other genes, involved in a variety of cell functions, such as DNA repair, cell cycle arrest and induction of apoptosis, and thus p53 is aptly regarded as the Guardian of the Genome….⁵

Here we report that incubation of LNCaP human prostate cancer cells (p53 +/+) with a full completement of healthy P53+ genes, when incubated with a natural form of selenium, as selenite, triggers rapid transcriptional activation of p53 and upregulation of the expression of p53 target genes as well as induction of miR-34 classes of microRNAs.

Our findings indicate that the anticancer action of the selenite may involve transactivation of p53 as a potential mechanism and suggests that selenite may be useful not only for prevention but also for treatment of human prostate cancer.5

Pharmacokinetics and Toxicity of Sodium Selenite I.V. in the Treatment of Patients with Carcinoma in Patients Refractory to Cytostatic Drugs

The cancer cells have higher than normal free radical production, free radicals accumulate in cancer cells selectively, and the deficit of the common antioxidant defenses enzyme systems, common in cancer cells make them much more vulnerable to oxidative therapies. Therefore, we can understand why radiation and free radical generating chemotherapies are used. In this very regard, selenite adds to this picture as safe natural and effective free radical generating system.⁶ Features of drug resistant cancer cells may be disarmed, by the prior use of selenite before treatment with those very same chemotherapies which were ineffective on the very same patients at the same dose.⁷ Below is a short summary of one such study.

In this paper, patients, with chemotherapy-resistant carcinomas, end stage patients, were deteriorating as their chemo regimen was found to be ineffective. Patients were first treated with IV selenite over a period of 5 consecutive days for two weeks or for 4 weeks. The findings include the evaluation of the safety and effectiveness of selenite in these patients with metastatic cancer and the evaluation of the I.V. selenite in conjunction with the patient specific chemotherapies. The most frequent adverse effects of I.V. selenite were G.I. effects, nausea, fatigue, cramps in fingers and legs, garlic breath and dizziness, which were transient. And there was no evidence of systemic toxicity.⁷

“It was concluded that sodium selenite is safe and tolerable when administered under their current protocol.”⁷ Researchers could then compare patients’ tolerance and performance, in relationship to the use of I.V. selenite, and the combination of I.V. selenite with the patient’s prior chemo regime.”

“None of the patients had complete or partial response immediately after respective treatment, but 13 patients had stabilized disease after selenite treatments. Sixteen patients had stable disease after subsequent chemotherapy.”⁷

Thirty-four patients entered the study. Two patients died.  90% of the remaining patients found their disease to be stabilized with this approach. Recall that the initial selection criterion included that patients were not responding to their individual chemotherapy regimen and were deteriorating.

Patient 5 had a stable disease and gradually improved during the following 6 months. The tumor was undetectable one-half year later as revealed by CT and PET-CT examination. She is alive without recurrence of the tumor for more than 6 years.⁷

In conclusion, selenite might represent an interesting cancer therapeutic for the treatment of some tumors and might also be an efficient complement for cytostatic regimes.  Selenite might be a remedy against chemotherapy toxicity.⁷ This can be considered a phase 1 human study.  

“The authors/researchers plan to proceed with another phase 1 study of prolonged selenite infusion to determine MTD (maximum tolerated dose) and clinical effects to find an optimal treatment schedule.”⁷

References

1. Use of Sodium Selenite for Cancer Treatment – Townsend Newsletter 2/16/23, 11:28 AM https://www.townsendletter,com/1c-sodium-seleniteand-cancer-treatment/ Page 8 of 9 1525-1531.
2. Oxidative stress-induced cataract: mechanism of action FASEB J. 1995 Sep;9(12):1173- 82. Author A Spector
3. Results from a Phase 1 Study of Sodium Selenite in Combination with Palliative Radiation Therapy in Patients with Metastatic Cancer. Transactional Oncology. November 2019; 12(11): pp 10 11 10 6, 10 10
4. Antitumor Effects of Selenium. November 2021; 22(21): 11844. Published online 2021 October 31, dol: 10:3390/ijms222111844 International Journal of Molecular Sciences
5. Selenite triggers rapid transcriptional activation of p53, and p53-mediated apoptosis in prostate cancer cells: Implication for the treatment of early stage prostate cancer. December 2009; International Journal of Oncology 36: 1419-1428, 2010
6. Redox-Active Selenium Compounds—From Toxicity and Cell Death to Cancer Treatment Nutrients 2015 May 7(5) 3536-3556
7. Pharmacokinetics and Toxicity of Sodium Selenite in the Treatment of Patients with Carcinoma in Phase 1 Clinical Trails, The SECR Study. Nutrients 2015 Jun; 7 (6) 4978- 4994

Published March 23, 2024

About the Author

Stephen A. Levine, PhD, is recognized internationally for his classic text on free radical biochemistry – Antioxidant Adaptation: Its Role in Free Radical Pathology (Levine & Kidd, 1985) – and as a leader in the development of research-based nutritional supplementation. He founded Allergy Research Group (ARG) in 1979, and in 1980 he founded the company’s subsidiary, Nutricology