THE "NEW" PROSTATE CANCER INFOLINK

According to information in a media release posted on the UPI.com web site yesterday, a newly published study in the journal Nutrition and Cancer has shown that “Eating right, exercise and other lifestyle changes may help prostate cancer patients reduce risk of aggressive tumors.”

A story on the ScienceDaily web site also provides some information about this study, as does a story on The Huffington Post web site. Unfortunately — at least so far — we have been unable to identify any actual study data, although one of the authors is a well-known authority on issues related to diet, nutrition, and prostate cancer (Dr. Leonore Arab of the University of California, Los Angeles, Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center). It clearly has not yet been posted on the web site of the journal Nutrition and Cancer (or at least, not for public access).

According to the information on the UPI and ScienceDaily web sites:

• The study involved 2,212 African-American or Caucasian-American men ages 40 to 70 years newly diagnosed with prostate cancer.
• It found that adherence to less than four of the eight World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) lifestyle recommendations predicted a 38 percent increased risk of aggressive tumors compared with adherence to four or more recommendations.
• The finding was statistically significant and similar among black and white men, despite a baseline higher risk of highly aggressive tumors among black men.
• Eating < 500 g of red meat per week or < 125 kcal per 100 grams of food per day were statistically significantly protective against highly aggressive tumors for all subjects in the study.
• Each point in a patient’s total adherence score corresponded to a 13 percent reduction in risk of aggressive cancer.

The eight core WCRF lifestyle recommendations are: desirable ranges of body mass index, physical activity, foods of low caloric density (< 125 kcal per 100 g of food), fruit and non-starchy vegetables, salt, legumes, unrefined grains, and red meat consumption. These recommendations are intended to decrease overall risk of cancer, and are also intended to improve quality of life and survival for cancer survivors.

Details of the WCRF lifestyle recommendations (as issued in their Second Expert Report, entitled Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity, and the Prevention of Cancer: A Global Perspective) are available on the WRCF web site.

Dr. Leonore is quoted  as saying,

Most men are at risk of prostate cancer, but it is the level of aggressiveness of disease that is most clinically relevant. These findings suggest that even men with prostate cancer can take control of their disease and moderate its aggressiveness through diet and lifestyle choices.

The “New” Prostate Cancer InfoLink will continue to look for a link to the original study and actual data reported in this study.

Filed under: Diagnosis, Living with Prostate Cancer, Prevention, Risk | Tagged: Diagnosis, diet, exercise, lifestyle, risk |