More than 50,000 people are being recruited across the world to take part in one of the biggest ever trials of a food supplement that could cut cancer deaths by half.

The experiment follows a recent trial in America involving the mineral selenium that had spectacular results. British scientists have long been worried by the decline in our diet of selenium found in foods such as bread, Brazil nuts and kidneys.

The lack of selenium is already being blamed for an increase in heart disease and a decline in sperm quality. Now US. SCIENTISTS HAVE SHOWN THAT SELENIUM SUPPLEMENTS CAN BE AN IMPRESSIVE WEAPON IN THE FIGHT AGAINST CANCER. In a trial involving 1,312 people, there were 50 per cent fewer cancer deaths in those supplementing their normal diet with 200 micrograms of selenium a day compared to those who didn’t. They also had 37 per cent fewer incidences of all forms of cancer. Cases of prostate cancer were 63 per cent fewer colon cancers were 58 per cent down and lung cancers 46 per cent fewer. The trial was carried out by Professor Larry Clark, the world’s leading authority on selenium and cancer.

The results were so impressive that he decided to widen the study internationally and also, use more people. If the same results occur, then the trial researchers based in seven different countries will make public health recommendations such as adding selenium to fertilisers and fortifying foods as will as dietary supplement’s, Concerns have been raised that the amount of selenium, an essential trace element found in the soil is falling in the UK.

The average intake in the standard British diet is now less than a third of that of the average American. It has dropped from around 34mcgs in the mid Nineties, compared to between 90-150mcgs a day in America. A decline in the consumption of bread a main source of selenium, and the trend towards using European rather than North American wheat has more of the mineral, is to blame for fall in the British diet. Selenium is an antioxidant, which prevents cells in the body from damage.

It also improves the immune system. A total of 8,750 healthy British men and women between the ages of 60 and 74 are being signed up for the ?0 million study, which involves people from Sweden, the Netherlands, Finland, Denmark and Belgium as well as Britain and America Researchers have applied for funds to the EU, the US government and an unnamed British cancer charity.

The actual selenium taken in the trial will be the same as in PROFESSOR Clark’s first experiment SelenoPrecise, produced by Pharma Nore. "It is encouraging that selenium as a means of cancer prevention has not been shown to be toxic," said Andrew Benson, of Pharma Nord. "Only in amounts around 1000mcgs dose it produce side effects such as nauseam vomiting and hair loss. Professor Clark said: "There’s every reason to expect the effect in Europe to be stronger than in America because of lower intake levels of selenium."