Prostate Cancer—All Things Considered

Nearly 200,000 cases of prostate cancer are diagnosed each year, and nearly 28,000 men die.^[19] In a prostate cancer patient's testimony, he describes the disease as:^[20,32]

"This is serious, life-changing stuff: There’s blood in your urine, a catheter snaked up your penis, scars stitch your gut, and you might be impotent and incontinent for a few months, a couple of years, or the rest of your life."

Scary! Isn't it?

Prostate Problems

The prostate is a walnut-sized gland located between the bladder and base of the penis, just in front of the rectum. It surrounds the urethra, the outlet from the bladder, and secretes the fluid portion of semen. Just as glandular tissue in the breast can become cancerous, so can glandular tissue in the prostate.

If the cancer is caught while still localized with the prostate, the chances of it killing you within the next five years are practically nil. However, if the cancer spreads far enough, your chances of surviving five years may be as low as one in three.^[18,29]

Prostate Cancer Screening

Prostate Cancer Screening measures the level of PSA in the blood.  As a rule, the higher the PSA level in the blood, the more likely a prostate problem is present. But many factors, such as age and race, can affect PSA levels.

Also, noted that PSA test could have two potential issues:

1. Prostate cancers—detected or undetected—may never have led to harm^[49]
• Autopsy studies show that about half of men over the age of 80 have prostate cancer.^[18]
• Most men die with prostate cancer without ever knowing they had it.
2. PSA screening can result in a high percentage of false positives

The latest recommendation suggests that, overall, PSA-based screening offers men aged 55 to 69 a small potential benefit of reducing the chance of dying from prostate cancer. However, for men 70 and older, the advisory panel advises against such testing due to the slow-growing nature of prostate cancer in this age group and the high 10-year survival rate. If further investigation is necessary, an MRI or MRI-ultrasound guided prostate biopsy can be used to confirm a diagnosis and guide personalized treatment options.

US Preventive Services Task Force

Risk Factors of Prostate cancer

• Environmental quality
• The risk of prostate cancer in men and breast cancer in women seemed most susceptible to bad environmental quality (i.e., rural vs urban living areas), the research team observed.^[12]
• Higher calcium and/or dairy intakes
• There is some evidence to suggest that higher calcium (ranging from 600 mg to >2000 mg of calcium) and/or dairy intakes (>2.5 servings) may be associated with the development of prostate cancer.^[43-46]
• However, these studies are observational in nature rather than clinical trials and cannot establish a definite causal relationship between calcium and prostate cancer.
• At the present time, it is recommended that men ages 19 and over consume a "modest" intake of calcium ranging from 1000-1200 mg per day and maintain an intake below the upper tolerable limit (2500 mg).^[47]
• Alcohol consumption
• A large amount of alcohol makes the detrusor muscle contract less efficiently and may make any prostate problem worse
• Milk consumption
• Growth hormones used in livestock raising
• A lifetime of human exposure to these growth factors in milk may help explain the connections found between dairy consumption and certain cancers.^[24]
• Experimental evidence suggests that dairy could also promote the conversion of precancerous lesions or mutated cells into invasive cancers.^[25]
• Naturally produced sex steroid hormones
• Today's genetically "improved" dairy cows are milked throughout their pregnancies when their reproductive hormones are particularly high.^[21]
• Which may lead to hormone-related conditions, including acne, diminished male reproductive potential, and premature puberty.^[21-24]
• A combination of case-control studies and cohort studies concluded that cow's milk consumption is a risk factor for prostate cancer.^[26-27]
• A 2015 meta-analysis found that high intakes of dairy products—milk, low-fat milk, and cheese, but not nondairy sources of calcium—appear to increase total prostate cancer risk.^[28]
• IGF-1
• The more IGF-1 you have in your bloodstream, the higher your risk for developing cancers, such as prostate cancer^[39]
• The release of IGF-1 appears to be triggered by the consumption of animal protein.^[40-41]

Video 1.  The Role of Soy Foods in Prostate Cancer Prevention and Treatment (YouTube link)

How Not to Die from Prostate Cancer^[42]

• Eat plant-based whole foods (especially cruciferous vegetables)^[41]
• The blood of people eating plant-based diets was shown to fight cancer about eight times better.^[30]
• Dr Ornish et al. were able to demonstrate that a full-time plant-based diet allowed for an apparent reversal in cancer growth.
• Both the historic rarity of BPH and prostate cancer in Japan and China have been attributed to the countries' traditional plant-based diets.^[36]
• Eating garlic and onions has been associated with significantly lower risk of BPH.^[37]
• A UCLA research team compared three groups of men: a plant-based diet-and-exercise group, an exercise-only group, and a control group of sedentary people eating standard fare.^[31]
• The blood of control group killed off 1-2% of cancer cells
• The blood of exercise-only group killed 2,000% more cancer cells than that of the control groups'
• However, the winner is the blood from the plant-based diet-and-exercise group, which wiped out 4,000% more cancer cells than that of the control groups'
• In general, cooked vegetables may work better than raw ones, and legumes—beans, chickpeas, split peas, and lentils—have also been associated with lower risk.^[38]
• Cranberry
• Cranberry removes purines, uric acid, and toxins from the bladder, kidneys, testicles, and prostate—which means a healthier prostate and less risk of prostate cancer.
• Watermelon
• Watermelon contributes to a healthy prostate and its lycopene may reduce risks of prostate cancer.^[1,58]

Source: [59]

• Green tea or coffee
• Based on a meta-analysis, it suggests that regardless of tea type, tea consumption might be a potential protective factor for the prostate caner, especially in China and India.^[50]
• Tea consumption might play a protective role in low-grade prostate caner.
• But, you might need to drink 6 cups a day to have an impact^[52]
• In Japan, the high tea-drinking group can be five or more cups a day, which appeared to cut the risk of aggressive prostate cancer about in half. 
• A meta-analysis study found that higher coffee consumption was significantly associated with a lower risk of prostate cancer.^[57]
• Lignans (hint: flaxseeds)^[10]
• Higher levels of lignans tend to be found in the prostate fluids of populations of men with relatively low rates of prostate caner^[33]
• Lignans have been shown to slow the growth of prostate cancer cells in a petri dish.^[34]
• The evidence suggests that flaxseed is safe, low-cost source of nutrition and may reduce tumor-proliferation rates.^[48]
• Ground flaxseed seems to be quite helpful not just for preventing prostate cancer, but also for men who already have prostate cancer.
• As well as the phytoestrogen effect, the lignans in flaxseed adhere to hormone receptors and promote the removal of testosterone.
• In men having prostate cancer, a low fat diet supplemented with 30 grams of ground flaxseed reduces serum testosterone by 15 %, slows down the growth rate of cancer cells, and increases the death rate of cancer cells.
• Drink almond milk instead of cow milk
• In a petri dish environment, Japanese researchers have found that cow milk produced an average increase in cancer growth rate of more than 30%. In contrast, almond milk suppressed the growth of the cancer cells by more than 30%.^[25]
• Avoid eggs (hint: choline)
• Compared with men who rarely ate eggs, men who ate even less than a single egg a day appeared to have twice the risk of prostate cancer progression.^[29]
• Avoid poultry (hint: HCA)
• Men with more aggressive cancer who regularly ate chicken and turkey had up to four times the risk of prostate cancer progression.^[29]
• Avoid fried foods
• In men, a larger intake of fried food was associated with a 35% increased risk of prostate cancer.^[62]
• Avoid commercially raised animals fed estrogenic hormones to make them gain weight faster and antibiotics to increase growth rate.
  • Residues of these drugs in meat can impact human health adversely.
  • The hormones may promote the development of prostate cancer in men.
  • Antibiotics in meat certainly contribute to the escalating problem of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which are becoming prevalent in the world.

Video 2.    Tomato Sauce vs. Prostate Cancer (YouTube link)

References

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7. The Most Common Prostate Cancer Screening Method Is Obsolete
8. Prevention Tips for Common Cancers (The Asian Fund for Cancer Research, Ltd.)
• Don’t overeat. Drink green tea
• Know your family history of cancer
• Quit smoking
• Eat more fruits, vegetables, and lean protein
• Meet with your doctor to develop a plan for physical activity
• Limit alcohol intake: 2 drinks/day
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14. Treating Advanced Prostate Cancer with Diethttps://nutritionfacts.org/video/treating-advanced-prostate-cancer-with-diet-part-1/
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• To our knowledge, our study is the first to report an association between avocado consumption and prostate cancer.
• Whole-blood and dietary MUFA reduced the risk of prostate cancer. The association may be related to avocado intakes. High blood linolenic acid was directly related to prostate cancer.
16. Prostatic Alpha-Linolenic Acid (ALA) Is Positively Associated with Aggressive Prostate Cancer: A Relationship Which May Depend on Genetic Variation in ALA Metabolism
• We found that while flaxseed supplementation resulted in significantly higher levels of ALA in the diet, this consumption did not translate into higher prostatic levels of ALA. This was an important finding because in additional analyses, prostatic ALA was associated with significantly higher PSA and tumor proliferation rates.
17. Prostate Cancer Related Videos on NutriionFacts.org
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• Our results suggest that the postdiagnostic consumption of processed or unprocessed red meat, fish, or skinless poultry is not associated with prostate cancer recurrence or progression, whereas consumption of eggs and poultry with skin may increase the risk.
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• Isoflavanoids (from soy) and lignans have many interesting properties and may, in part, be responsible for lower incidences of prostate cancer in men from Asia and also some Mediterranean countries
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42. How Not to Die (Dr. Michael Greger)
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• Vegans' calcium and vitamin B-12 intakes may need attention
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48. Flaxseed Supplementation (not Dietary Fat Restriction) Reduces Prostate Cancer Proliferation Rates in Men Presurgery
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52. Preventing Prostate Cancer with Green Tea (NutritionFacts.org)
53. Breakthroughs in understanding the genetic basis of aggressive prostate cancer
54. New Prostate Cancer Imaging Tracer Improves Detection
55. Biomarkers Build Confidence in Choosing Active Surveillance Over Treatment
• “Our study demonstrated that the genome is an independent indicator of more or less aggressive cancer,” explains Dr. Stephenson. “Although it’s not perfect, genomic biomarkers help us distinguish cancer behavior, which influences our decisions regarding surveillance and treatment.”
56. Combinatorial treatment with natural compounds in prostate cancer inhibits prostate tumor growth and leads to key modulations of cancer cell metabolism
57. Coffee consumption and risk of prostate cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis
58. A prospective study of tomato products, lycopene, and prostate cancer risk
59. The Science of How the Body Heals Itself with William Li, M.D.
60. MAOA inhibitor phenelzine efficacious in recurrent prostate cancer
61. Natural diversity in health related phytochemicals in Turkish tomatoes
62. The Carcinogen Glycidol in Cooking Oil