Contrary to what some smokers may hope, antioxidants and other vitamins seem to offer no protection against lung cancer, new research suggests.

    In an analysis of eight previous studies, researchers found no evidence that vitamins A, C, E or folate lower a person's risk of lung cancer.

    Across the studies, which followed thousands of adults for up to 16 years, people with the highest intakes of the vitamins were no less likely to develop lung cancer than those with the lowest intakes.

    There has been a popular notion that even smokers can ward off lung cancer by taking vitamin supplements, Dr. Eunyoung Cho, the lead author of the new report, told Reuters Health.

    "This is not true, and our study confirmed that," said Cho, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

    She and her colleagues report the findings in the International Journal of Cancer.

    Vitamins C and E are antioxidants, which means they help neutralize cell-damaging substances in the body called free radicals. Vitamin A and folate, a B vitamin, also help maintain normal, healthy cells.

    All of these vitamins have been hypothesized to cut lung cancer risk, according to Cho's team, but the research evidence has been spotty. In particular, most prospective studies -- those that follow people over time -- have found no clear protective effect.

    But because these studies have included only a small number of lung cancer cases, their findings are less reliable. So Cho and her colleagues pooled data from eight prospective studies that followed a total of 430,281 adults in Europe and North America, including 3,206 who developed lung cancer.

    After the researchers factored in smoking habits and other variables, like overall diet, weight and education, there was no evidence that vitamins A, C, E or folate reduced lung cancer risk.

    There was initially some evidence that vitamin C from food, but not supplements, was protective. But that connection disappeared when the researchers accounted for beta-cryptoxanthin, a plant chemical that gives color to oranges, red peppers, carrots and other red-orange fruits and vegetables.

    Because many vitamin C-rich foods contain beta-cryptoxanthin, the latter nutrient may help explain the link some studies have found between vitamin C and lower lung cancer risk, the researchers speculate.

    In fact, it is still possible that nutrient-rich fruits and vegetables, if not individual vitamins, help protect against lung cancer, Cho said.

    These foods, she explained, might confer benefits through components other than vitamins, or through their unique combinations of nutrients -- though, she added, there is still much to be learned in this area

    美國(guó)科學(xué)家最新公布的一項(xiàng)研究結(jié)果顯示，抗氧化劑和維生素似乎并不能增強(qiáng)人體預(yù)防肺癌的能力，這一說(shuō)法可能會(huì)讓許多吸煙者們大失所望。

    科學(xué)家們對(duì)之前的8項(xiàng)此類研究結(jié)果進(jìn)行了分析，發(fā)現(xiàn)并無(wú)證據(jù)表明維生素A、C、E或葉酸等能降低一個(gè)人罹患肺癌的危險(xiǎn)。上述這些研究的時(shí)間跨度長(zhǎng)達(dá)16年，研究對(duì)象達(dá)數(shù)千成年人。最終的分析報(bào)告刊登在最新一期的《國(guó)際癌癥雜志》上。

    從最終結(jié)果來(lái)看，平時(shí)各種維生素?cái)z入量最多的人患上肺癌的可能性并不比攝入量最低的那些人更小。研究負(fù)責(zé)人、美國(guó)哈佛大學(xué)的曹恩永（音譯）博士說(shuō)，有一種觀點(diǎn)一向頗為流行，那就是只要補(bǔ)充維生素，即使煙民也可以避免患肺癌。曹恩永說(shuō)：“這是不符合實(shí)際的，我們的研究已經(jīng)證實(shí)了這一點(diǎn)。”

    人體內(nèi)有一種被稱做自由基的物質(zhì)可以使多種細(xì)胞受到破壞，而維生素C和維生素E均屬于抗氧化劑，這也就意味著它們會(huì)在清除自由基方面起到一定的作用。維生素A和葉酸（B族維生素的一種）同樣會(huì)有助于保護(hù)住人體內(nèi)那些既正常又健康的細(xì)胞。按照曹恩永的說(shuō)法，上面所提到的這幾種維生素一直以來(lái)均被假設(shè)成可以降低患肺癌的危險(xiǎn)，但有關(guān)研究結(jié)果卻顯得搖擺不定，缺乏前后一致的結(jié)論。

    曹恩永還指出，事實(shí)上即使單獨(dú)某種維生素?zé)o法在抵御肺癌方面起到什么作用，但那些營(yíng)養(yǎng)豐富的水果和蔬菜仍然有可能在一定程度上幫助人們遠(yuǎn)離肺癌的“魔爪”。這些食物之所以有益于人體健康，可能是通過(guò)其體內(nèi)含有的其它成分而非各種維生素，或者是因?yàn)樗鼈冏陨硭�具有的�?dú)一無(wú)二的營(yíng)養(yǎng)組合，在這方面還有很多課題等待著人們?nèi)プ鲞M(jìn)一步的研究。