A ten-year perspective: The influence of nutrition on prostate cancer

Ten years ago, the late Dr. William Fair, a surgeon at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and CAM advocate wrote, “epidemiologic and laboratory evidence increasingly demonstrate that nutritional factors, especially reduced fat intake, soy proteins, vitamin E derivatives, and selenium, may have a protective effect against prostate cancer.”

Now, Steffen Theobald, a nutritional consultant and manager at the Scientific Association for the Improvement of Patient Competence in Germany updates the role of nutrition in the development, prevention, and treatment of prostate cancer.

• Obesity may increase both primary risk and biochemical (increase in prostate specific antigen [PSA]) or clinical recurrence of prostate cancer
• High intake of total fat, saturated fats, meat, dairy, and calcium are related to increased risk
• Higher intake of tomato products, soy, lycopene, selenium, omega-3-fatty acids from fatty fish, and vitamin E in smokers may lower the risk of prostate cancer
• Tomato products and selenium in the diet delay progression of prostate cancer
• Taking selenium during chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy may decrease treatment-related toxicities and increase the effect of therapy on cancer cells

Overall, the concepts about nutrition and prostate cancer have held true and expanded over the past decade.

Illustration: Isreal21c

10/26/06 09:24 JR