Happy Holidays And best wishes for the New Year
We will not have a December Meeting. Our next monthly meeting will be in January, in the Bennett & Suzy Katz Cancer Resource Center on the 1st Floor of the two-story redwood Education Building behind Santa Cruz Dominican Hospital.
We meet 7 p.m. the last Tuesday each month, so that is January 26th, 2009. For more information, please call - The Bennett and Suzy Katz Cancer Resource Center at Dominican Hospital (831) 462-7770.
Prostate Cancer in the News
Moderate exercise may lower prostate cancer risk
By Amy Norton
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Men who regularly get moderate exercise may have a lower risk of developing prostate cancer -- including aggressive, fast-growing tumors, a new study finds. Researchers found that among 190 men who underwent biopsies for possible prostate cancer, those who exercised moderately -- the equivalent of three to six hours of walking per week -- were less likely to be diagnosed with the disease.
Compared with their sedentary counterparts, these men were two-thirds less likely to have a biopsy positive for prostate cancer. In addition, men who got the equivalent of one to three hours of walking each week had an 86 percent lower chance of having an aggressive form of the cancer.
The findings, which appear in the current issue of the Journal of Urology, do not prove that exercise helps prevent prostate cancer. But they could offer men yet more incentive to get active.
"If you need one more reason to exercise, this could be one," said senior researcher Dr. Stephen J. Freedland, of the Duke University Prostate Center and the VA Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. A number of studies have looked at the relationship between exercise and prostate cancer, and while most have pointed to a protective effect, about one-third have found no association, Freedland told Reuters Health.
One question has been whether the positive findings reflect a greater tendency of health-conscious exercisers to get screened for prostate cancer. This study avoided that issue, Freedland said, by focusing on men who were sent for biopsies after concerning findings from prostate specific antigen (PSA) testing or a digital rectal exam.
He and his colleagues found that among the 111 sedentary men in the study, half were diagnosed with cancer after biopsy. That compared with 27 percent of those men who got the equivalent of three to six hours of walking each week. And among men diagnosed with prostate cancer, 51 percent of sedentary patients had more-aggressive cancer, versus 22 percent of those who had been mildly active -- getting the equivalent of one to three hours of moderate walking per week.
Exercise itself remained linked to a lower risk of prostate cancer after the researchers accounted for a number of other factors, like age, weight and race.
Along with studies finding a relationship between exercise habits and lower prostate cancer risk, there is also research showing that the connection is biologically plausible, Freedland said.
For one, he noted, exercise has been shown to lower blood levels of testosterone and other hormones that may stimulate prostate tumor growth. Exercise is also believed to stimulate the immune system and the body's natural antioxidant mechanisms, both of which may help prevent the development of prostate cancer.
SOURCE: Journal of Urology, November 2009. http://in.reuters.com/article/health/idINTRE5A552T20091106
Red, Processed Meats Linked to Prostate Cancer
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Men who eat a lot of red meat and processed meats may have a higher risk of developing prostate cancer than those who limit such foods, a large study of U.S. men suggests. Researchers at the National Cancer Institute found that among more than 175,000 men they followed for nine years, those who ate the most red and processed meats had heightened risks of developing any stage of prostate cancer, or advanced cancer in particular.
The findings, reported in the American Journal of Epidemiology, add to a conflicting body of research on meat intake and prostate cancer risk. Because studies over the years have come to different conclusions, experts generally consider the evidence linking red and processed meats to the disease to be limited and inconclusive.
These latest findings do not settle the question. But they do suggest that processed red meats and high-heat cooking methods -- namely, grilling and barbecuing -- may be particularly connected to prostate cancer risk, according to Dr. Rashmi Sinha and her colleagues at the NCI.
For the study, the researchers followed 175,343 U.S. men between the ages of 50 and 71 who were surveyed about their diets -- including how much and what type of meat they typically ate, as well as the cooking methods they used. The researchers used that information to estimate the levels of certain potentially cancer-promoting chemicals in the men's diets. Over the next nine years, 10,313 study participants developed prostate cancer and 419 died from the disease.
Overall, the researchers found, the 20 percent of men with the highest intakes of red meat, which in this study included beef and pork, were 12 percent more likely than those who consumed the least to develop prostate cancer. That's after a range of other factors, like smoking, exercise habits and education, were taken into account. There was a stronger connection to advanced prostate cancer -- with that risk being almost one-third higher among those who ate the most red meat versus those who ate the least.
Similar findings were seen with processed meat. But when the researchers broke the men's diet information down further, they found that red processed meats -- like bacon and red-meat sausage and hot dogs -- were related to higher prostate cancer risk, while white processed meats, like poultry cold cuts, were not.
When it came to cooking methods, the only one that was linked to prostate cancer was grilling/barbecuing, Sinha's team found. The finding is in line with the theory that meats cooked at high temperatures may be particularly linked to cancer because the cooking process produces certain chemicals -- including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heterocyclic amines -- that are known to cause cancer in animals.
Giving further support to that idea, the researchers found that higher dietary levels of a PAH called benzo-alpha-pyrene were related to a higher risk of prostate cancer. A similar pattern emerged when the investigators looked at men's intake of nitrites and nitrates -- chemicals used to preserve and flavor processed and cured meats like ham, bacon and sausage. In the body, nitrites and nitrates can promote the production of potentially cancer-promoting chemicals called nitrosamines.
Taken together, Sinha's team writes, the findings point to potential mechanisms by which certain meats could promote prostate cancer. They also highlight the importance of studying the relationship between specific types of meat and prostate cancer risk, the researchers say. Further studies, they conclude, are still needed to establish whether certain meats, and chemicals in those foods, are in fact risk factors for prostate cancer.
SOURCE: American Journal of Epidemiology, November 1, 2009. http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=9005855
Cheap flaxseed powder seems to improve prostate and overall health
By Mark Moyad M.D.
(Reference: Demark-Wahnefried W, et al. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 17:3577-3587, 2008)
Bottom Line: Three tablespoons of flaxseed powder per day should be recommended before a radical prostatectomy (and perhaps before and after other prostate cancer treatments).
Flaxseed (linseed) is a popular alternative remedy to reduce cholesterol and hot flashes and to improve overall health. It is also high in fiber and omega-3 fatty acids! However, its impact in prostate cancer has been controversial because over the past decade some laboratory studies and other studies that did not include flaxseed but some of the compounds in it suggested it could be harmful and encourage tumor growth. However, over the past 10 years when flaxseed powder was used in men with and without prostate cancer the studies have all been positive! So, these researchers tried to determine the impact of flaxseed powder and/or a low-fat diet on prostate tissue and other parameters before and after radical prostatectomy in a very large and impressive study. In fact, it is one of the largest and well-done dietary studies in medical history conducted only with prostate cancer patients!
A total of 161 prostate cancer patients at least 21 days before surgery were randomized to one of 4 groups: control (regular) diet, flaxseed (30 grams/day), low-fat diet (<20% of calories from fat), or flaxseed and low-fat. Post-surgical specimens were analyzed for Ki-67 a proliferative biomarker and apoptosis (cell death) before (biopsy) and after surgery. The average time on these treatments was 30 days. Proliferation rates were significantly (P<0.002) reduced among men in the flaxseed groups compared to low-fat alone or control (that is a good thing because more proliferation suggests more tumor growth and less proliferation suggests less tumor growth). Men on a low-fat diet experienced a significant (P=0.05) reduction in total cholesterol. No other differences were observed between groups. So, flaxseed was found to be safe and may provide molecular changes that may ultimately discourage prostate cancer growth.
What does this mean for you and me? Few randomized trials in prostate cancer have made me happier than this one! I got so tired of hearing from the radical life-style crowd that flaxseed was dangerous for the prostate because some animal or test tube study suggested harm.
Flaxseed has a history of being completely heart healthy by reducing cholesterol and perhaps body weight and belly fat, and it is a wonderful source of fiber and lignans, which have been shown to reduce hot flashes. However, its best feature is that any individual can afford it because it is so dirt-cheap. Gee, I wonder why you do not see any flaxseed powder commercials on TV or pushed by the fly by night “experts"?!
Also, keep in mind that this is one of the largest and well-conducted randomized trials before prostate cancer surgery, so it seems that surgeons have a new recommendation to add to their pre-operative instructions. Regardless, these findings should continue to provide assurance to those concerned about flaxseed that flaxseed powder is safe and may fight tumors along with conventional treatment. Flaxseed pills and flaxseed oil have little to no research in prostate cancer so I would not spend my money on them.
One more important finding from this clinical trial needs to be emphasized. When researchers looked at prostate and blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids (the heart healthy fats found in flaxseed) they could not find large amounts of the plant form, but they did find higher levels of the fish oil form of omega-3 fatty acids!!!!! WOW! AND WOW SPELLED BACKWARDS!!!! What does this mean? The body seemed to convert the plant form of omega-3 fats in flaxseed to the healthy type found in fish oil! Perhaps this is another reason flaxseed powder is so darn healthy. What a wonderful study. These researchers should get some type of award for doing this study in the first place!!
Source: http://www.paactusa.org - (June 2009 Newsletter link)
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The Santa Cruz County Prostate Cancer Support Group does not endorse any provider, organization, product or individual. All medical decisions should be made with the advice and consultation of medical professionals.
Many THANKS to the American Cancer Society for assisting with the printing and mailing of this newsletter and the Katz Cancer Resource Center for allowing us to use their facility.