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From: Juhana Harju on 18 Aug 2006 09:40

Dietary changes and stress management may attenuate prostate cancer
progression according to a new study.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Integr Cancer Ther. 2006 Sep;5(3):206-13. Related Articles, Links


Potential attenuation of disease progression in recurrent prostate cancer
with plant-based diet and stress reduction.

Saxe GA, Major JM, Nguyen JY, Freeman KM, Downs TM, Salem CE.

Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, Moores UCSD Cancer Center,
University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California. gsaxe(a)ucsd.edu.

A rising level of prostate-specific antigen (PSA), after primary surgery or
radiation therapy, is the hallmark of recurrent prostate cancer and is often
the earliest sign of extraprostatic spread in patients who are otherwise
asymptomatic. While hormonal therapy may slightly extend survival in a
minority of patients, it is not curative and produces side effects including
hot flashes, decreased libido, and loss of bone mass. Alternatively, dietary
modification may offer an important tool for clinical management.
Epidemiologic studies have associated the Western diet not only with
prostate cancer incidence but also with a greater risk of disease
progression after treatment. Conversely, many elements of plant-based diets
have been associated with reduced risk of progression. However, dietary
modification can be stressful and difficult to implement. We therefore
conducted a 6-month pilot clinical trial to investigate whether adoption of
a plant-based diet, reinforced by stress management training, could
attenuate the rate of further PSA rise. Urologists at the University of
California, San Diego, and San Diego Veterans Affairs Medical Centers
recruited 14 patients with recurrent prostate cancer. A pre-post design was
employed in which each patient served as his own control. Rates of PSA rise
were ascertained for each patient for the following periods: from the time
of posttreatment recurrence up to the start of the study (prestudy) and from
the time immediately preceding the intervention (baseline) to the end of the
intervention (0-6 months). There was a significant decrease in the rate of
PSA rise from prestudy to 0 to 6 months (P < .01). Four of 10 evaluable
patients experienced an absolute reduction in their PSA levels over the
entire 6-month study. Nine of 10 had a reduction in their rates of PSA rise
and an improvement of their PSA doubling times. Median PSA doubling time
increased from 11.9 months (prestudy) to 112.3 months (intervention). These
results provide preliminary evidence that adoption of a plant-based diet, in
combination with stress reduction, may attenuate disease progression and
have therapeutic potential for clinical management of recurrent prostate
cancer. PMID: 16880425

http://tinyurl.com/h4b9a

The full study as a pdf-file:

http://ict.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/5/3/206

--
Juhana

"All facts are theory-laden"
- Paul Feyerabend


From: NICK on 18 Aug 2006 16:14
Veggie wrote:

> Alternatively, dietary modification may offer an important tool for clinical management.

___may___


> may attenuate disease progression and have therapeutic potential for clinical
> management of recurrent prostate cancer. PMID: 16880425

___may___

Absolutely no proof one way or the other.

From: ron on 18 Aug 2006 16:42
NICK wrote:
> Absolutely no proof one way or the other.

Amen! You wonder how some of this stuff gets published, or why it gets
published. There are many factors and biochemical steps involved in
PSA production, from the number of prostate cells (cancerous and
benign), to gene expression, protein production, amino acid
availability, etc. This paper makes no effort to separate the change
in PSA production due to the number of cells present before and after
treatment (the factor we're interested in), versus all of the other
factors / steps that can alter the amount of PSA produced. As an
extreme example to illustrate my point, suppose these "lifestyle"
changes.severely reduced the prostatic concentration of one of the
amino acids needed to build PSA. Then the PSA level could go to (near)
zero and remain there. Great, no PSA and a super-long doubling time,
but unfortuneately the number of prostatic cells has not been
decreased. I think lifestyle changes may have an effect on PCa growth,
but this paper does nothing to test this approach in a scientifically,
meaningful manner (and let's not even get into the number of subjects
and duration of the study)...Best wishes and good health, ron

From: Alex on 18 Aug 2006 18:08

"ron" <oitbso(a)yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1155933754.114724.250180(a)i3g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
> NICK wrote:
>> Absolutely no proof one way or the other.
>
> Amen! You wonder how some of this stuff gets published, or why it gets
> published. There are many factors and biochemical steps involved in
> PSA production, from the number of prostate cells (cancerous and
> benign), to gene expression, protein production, amino acid
> availability, etc. This paper makes no effort to separate the change
> in PSA production due to the number of cells present before and after
> treatment (the factor we're interested in), versus all of the other
> factors / steps that can alter the amount of PSA produced. As an
> extreme example to illustrate my point, suppose these "lifestyle"
> changes.severely reduced the prostatic concentration of one of the
> amino acids needed to build PSA. Then the PSA level could go to (near)
> zero and remain there. Great, no PSA and a super-long doubling time,
> but unfortuneately the number of prostatic cells has not been
> decreased. I think lifestyle changes may have an effect on PCa growth,
> but this paper does nothing to test this approach in a scientifically,
> meaningful manner (and let's not even get into the number of subjects
> and duration of the study)...Best wishes and good health, ron
>
Perhaps one reason it gets published is that the study is trying to explore
a complex, not-easilyrelationship between cancer and other factors that
affect the body: food, stress and the way these easily-controlled variables
affect the body's neurological system, which in turn affects body chemistry,
hormones and other mechanisms which impact PCa.
The very first studies of PSA probably were as imprecise in their findings
and questionable in their approach as this study. As the topic was more
fully explored and more accurately understood, the studies got better and
yielded more applicable results.
It is certainly reasonable to be skeptical of this or any other study. But
it is also reasonable to look at the impact of diet and so on, given the
wide variations in the incidences of PCa by region (Japan vs. the U.S., for
example.)
Stress may seem more of a reach. But the fact that a third of patients
typically respond to a placebo in ways that are medically meaurable (changes
in blood pressure, brain center activity, blood chemistry, etc.) indicates
that what we think/feel/believe/expect does impact the way our body
functions.

Alex


From: Juhana Harju on 19 Aug 2006 02:44
Alex wrote:

: But it is also reasonable to look at the impact of diet and so
: on, given the wide variations in the incidences of PCa by region
: (Japan vs. the U.S., for example.)

Yes, the variations in PCa by region are huge. Some of this variation might
be explained by the fact that PCa is more often diagnosed in developed
Western countries but this does not explain the vast difference in incidence
between U.S. and Japan.

http://jncicancerspectrum.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/statContent/cspectfstat;99

--
Juhana

"All facts are theory-laden"
- Paul Feyerabend


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