Taking pills of antioxidants doesn't help prevent prostate cancer, showed a National Cancer Institute (NCI) study published on Tuesday.

The study, involving about 30,000 men, is among many large studies that seek to confirm if antioxidants, taken in the form of pills instead of in diet, can help protect against prostate cancer. Previous studies have yielded conflicting results.

About 1,340 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer within eight years of entering the NCI study. Among them, those who took antioxidant supplements made no difference except for some smokers, the study revealed.

In the study, the possibility for smokers who had taken high doses of vitamin E for years to be diagnosed with advanced prostate cancers dropped 71 percent. Meanwhile, the risk of earlier-stage cancer increased among those vitamin E-using smokers.

As smoking itself increases the risk of prostate cancer, quitting smoking would be more helpful, said Harvard University scientists in an accompanying editorial in Tuesday's Journal of the National Cancer Institute, where the result of the study was published.

The report said the study was primarily intended to test the value of screening tests for prostate cancer.

Source: Xinhua