Several recent short-term intervention studies failed to show vitamin E supplementation was protective against the development of various cancers, most notably lung and prostate cancer. In fact, in the SELECT study, individuals taking vitamin E supplements showed a 17 percent higher incidence of prostate cancer.
A review of the literature suggests while the recent research on vitamin E may be conflicting, evidence supporting the anti-cancer properties of a specific form of vitamin E known as vitamin E succinate (alpha-tocopheryl succinate) is promising.