A Med diet stops prostate cancer in its tracks

Taking up a Mediterranean diet could be all it takes to stop localized prostate cancer from spreading.

Eating more fruits, vegetables, pulses and fish will manage the cancer and stop it growing or spreading. As a result, invasive surgery will probably not be necessary, say researchers from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

The researchers tested the diet on 410 men diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer whose markers for disease progression, including their PSA score, were measured every six months. The average age of the group was 64, and 82 percent of the men were white, and 8 percent black.

Some of the men didn’t follow the diet very carefully, but those who did saw a 10 percent drop in their cancer’s growth for every one of the aspects of the diet they adopted. At the end of the three-year study, 76 men saw their cancer progress—suggesting the other 334 had successfully managed their cancer purely by making dietary changes.

Prostate cancer is the second most common in men after skin cancer, and ‘active surveillance’ is often the preferred route, especially as treatments can affect quality of life, including declines in urinary and sexual function.

Changing to a healthier diet could be an important way to help stop the cancer progressing, the researchers say.

(Source: Cancer, 2021; doi: 10.1002/cncr.33182)

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