Molybdenum & Disease Prevention

Gastroesophageal Cancer

Linxian is a small region in northern China where the incidence of cancer of the esophagus and stomach is very high (10 times higher than the average in China and 100 times higher than the average in the U.S.). The soil in this region is low in molybdenum and other mineral elements, so dietary molybdenum is also low.

Increased intake of nitrosamines, which are known carcinogens, may be one of a number of dietary and environmental factors that contributes to the development of gastroesophageal cancer in this population. Plants require molybdenum to synthesize nitrate reductase, a molybdoenzyme necessary for converting nitrates from the soil to amino acids.

When soil molybdenum content is low, plant conversion of nitrates to nitrosamines increases, resulting in increased nitrosamine exposure for those who consume the plants.

Adding molybdenum to the soil in the form of ammonium molybdenate may help decrease the risk of gastroesophageal cancer by limiting nitrosamine exposure. It is not clear whether dietary molybdenum supplementation is beneficial in decreasing the risk of gastroesophageal cancer.

In a large intervention trial, dietary supplementation of molybdenum (30 mcg/day) and vitamin C (120 mg/day) did not decrease the incidence of gastroesophageal cancer or other cancers in residents of Linxian over a five-year period.

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