Potential Role of Selenium in the Treatment of Cancer and Viral Infections

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences Vol. 23; no. 4; p. 2215
• Main Authors: Rataan, Aseel O, Geary, Sean M, Zakharia, Yousef, Rustum, Youcef M, Salem, Aliasger K
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 17-02-2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Animals; Antineoplastic Agents - chemistry; Antineoplastic Agents - therapeutic use; cancer; chemotherapy; Clinical trials; COVID-19; COVID-19 - drug therapy; COVID-19 - virology; Cytokines; Cytotoxic agents; Cytotoxicity; DNA Repair - drug effects; Drug dosages; Drug resistance; Drug Resistance, Neoplasm - drug effects; Humans; Kidney cancer; Laboratory animals; Lymphocytes; Melanoma; Metabolism; Metabolites; Neoplasms - drug therapy; NF-E2-Related Factor 2 - chemistry; NF-E2-Related Factor 2 - metabolism; Patients; Prostate cancer; Reagents; Renal cell carcinoma; Review; SARS-CoV-2 - drug effects; SARS-CoV-2 - isolation & purification; Selenium; Selenium - chemistry; Selenium - metabolism; Selenium - pharmacology; Selenium - therapeutic use; Skin cancer; T cell receptors; Therapeutic targets; Thymus gland; Tumors; viral infection; Viral infections; Vitamin E; United States > US; cancer; viral infection; drug resistance; selenium; chemotherapy
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms23042215

Selenium has been extensively evaluated clinically as a chemopreventive agent with variable results depending on the type and dose of selenium used. Selenium species are now being therapeutically evaluated as modulators of drug responses rather than as directly cytotoxic agents. In addition, recent data suggest an association between selenium base-line levels in blood and survival of patients with COVID-19. The major focus of this mini review was to summarize: the pathways of selenium metabolism; the results of selenium-based chemopreventive clinical trials; the potential for using selenium metabolites as therapeutic modulators of drug responses in cancer (clear-cell renal-cell carcinoma (ccRCC) in particular); and selenium usage alone or in combination with vaccines in the treatment of patients with COVID-19. Critical therapeutic targets and the potential role of different selenium species, doses, and schedules are discussed.