Johns Hopkins Health Alert
Research Spells Good News for Prostate Cancer Patients
- Strict Diet and Lifestyle Changes May Reduce the Risk of Progression in Early Prostate Cancer
Men with early prostate cancer who follow a strict vegetarian diet, exercise regularly and practice stress reduction techniques may be able to lower their PSA levels and their risk of cancer progression, according to a study from the Journal of Urology. Researchers wanted to test the ability of a very low-fat diet (10 percent or less of daily calories) to slow or prevent worsening of early prostate cancer. The diet followed was a variation on the Ornish diet, originally designed by Dean Ornish, M.D., to reduce heart disease risk. The 93 study participants were men with early-stage prostate cancer who had chosen “watchful waiting” instead of active treatment for their prostate cancer. The men were randomly assigned to the Ornish program or to usual care.
During the one-year study, six men in the usual care group underwent conventional treatment because of rising PSA levels (an indication of disease progression) or evidence of progression on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In contrast, none of the men in the comprehensive lifestyle group required treatment. PSA levels decreased 4 percent in the lifestyle group, whereas PSA levels increased 6 percent in the usual care group. In addition, cell culture studies showed that blood from men in the lifestyle group inhibited the growth of prostate cancer cells by 70 percent, compared to 9 percent for men receiving usual care.
- Prostate Cancer Diagnosis Usually Does Not Mean Shorter Lifespan
Good news for men diagnosed with prostate cancer from the Journal of Clinical Oncology: The vast majority of men diagnosed with prostate cancer today will live as long as their counterparts who do not have prostate cancer. This is the conclusion from an analysis of data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program, a huge national database of cancer statistics.
The researchers examined five- and 10-year survival data for 183,484 men diagnosed with prostate cancer between 1990 and 2000. They found that the overall five-year survival rate for prostate cancer patients was 99 percent; 10-year survival was 95 percent. Compared with men in the general population, those with prostate cancer had an excess mortality of only 1 percent at five years and 5 percent at 10 years. The researchers noted that two-thirds of the men were diagnosed with well-differentiated or moderately differentiated localized/regional cancers. Among these men, there was no increased mortality compared to men in the general population.
Prostate cancer experts continue to debate whether widespread prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening is responsible for lower mortality rates. However, most men diagnosed in the PSA era do not experience excess mortality. This finding should be comforting for men who are living with a prostate cancer diagnosis.
Posted in Prostate Disorders on December 14, 2006
Reviewed June 2011
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In regard to your article about a strict diet helping control the progression of prostate cancer, could you tell me the reference in the Journal of Urology. Better still is it possible to get a copy. I am interested in finding out what are the modifications to the regular Ornish diet. Thank you, Maxx
Posted by: Maxx | May 19, 2007 1:41 PM
While I commend Dr. Ornish for his study that was published in the Journal of Urology in September 2006, the reduction of PSA after 1 year on the Vegan diet was 0.25 ng/ml while the placebo group noted a mild rise of 0.38 ng/ml. This data was modestly statistically significant but is seriously flawed by the use of Soy in the Vegan group. Soy, as most of us know, is a phytoestrogen that will have an impact on prostate cancer thereby, likely altering the PSA as well. In a corollary study that I published in the peer-reviewed Journal, Clinical Interventions in Aging (Volume 2, Number 1, 2007), I was able to show a decrease in PSA in the active study arm of 58% over a span of more than 3 years. A recent update to this data set may be viewed at www.urotoday.com. The entry was made on January 22, 2008 for interested readers. In the update, we have seen a PSA reduction of 55% representing a mean time frame of more than 4 years. I believe the reduction in inflammation of the prostate as measured by the expressed prostatic secretion (EPS) is the key to the dramatic drop in PSA. By reducing inflammation, we are effectively stabilizing,if not resolving, the disease process of non-bacterial prostatitis. The American Association of Cancer Research headed up by Johns Hopkins supports this scientific premise. R.E. Wheeler,M.D.
Posted by: prostadoc | March 9, 2008 12:52 PM
i read and re-red the 2nd paragraph on and it seems to be controdictive. but then again that could just be me. thanks
Posted by: brucerolson | March 30, 2009 4:07 PM
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DO the statistics hold true for those of us who have had their prostate removed surgically and their PSA is still increasing? Most of the statistics appear to be geared to those who have adopted a "Wait and See" attitude. lrdoria
Posted by: lrdoria | April 2, 2007 9:48 AM