Beta carotene

12 NCI-sponsored studieslooking at the effect of the plant-derived carotenoid on cancer. Close to 30,000 patients are now receiving beta carotene in cancer studies, according to a National Cancer Institute estimate. In a study in the Sept. 20 New England Journal of Medicine, Greenberg et al. found that beta carotene did not reduce the occurrence of new skin cancers in patients with a previous melanoma skin cancer ("The Pink Sheet" Sept. 24, T&G-9). Greenberg currently is studying the effects of beta carotene oncolon polyps. A stuy in China that began in 1985 is looking at 30,000 general population patients and 1,400 dysplasia patients to determine beta carotene's effect ont eh occurrence of esophogeal cancer; the patients come from the area with the highest incidence of esophogeal cancer in the world.