Prostate cancer is something that men worry about, especially because it is the most common cancer in men, and because it can take several forms. On one hand, a tumor can be "indolent" or so slow growing that it just needs to be monitored, or sometimes it can be very aggressive and even lead to death. That's why the possibility of a dietary pattern (what a person eats) having an effect on the cancer's progression or aggressiveness is very exciting - if true, it would be something people could do to improve their prostate cancer outcome. Or perhaps even prevent it in the first place. Studies up to this point have been mixed, with no clear results.
A recent large study conducted in Spain found that those men with prostate cancer who had a high adherence to a Mediterranean diet had a lower risk of aggressive prostate cancer, as compared to those following a typical Western diet (large amounts of fatty dairy products, refined grains, processed meat, caloric beverages, sweets, fast food, and sauces) or a Prudent diet (low-fat dairy products, whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and juices). A Mediterranean dietary pattern is rich in fruits and vegetables, and also fish, legumes, boiled potatoes, olives and olive oil, vegetable oils, and a low intake of juices.
The researchers also discussed that there are many similarities with breast cancer and prostate cancer, including risk factors. They found in an earlier study in Spain that eating a Western diet is associated with breast cancer risk, the Prudent diet is not associated with breast cancer, and the Mediterranean diet seems to be protective for breast cancer. From Medical Xpress:
A more complete Mediterranean diet may protect against aggressive prostate cancer
In a new study published in The Journal of Urology, researchers determined that men who followed a Mediterranean diet, rich in fish, boiled potatoes, whole fruits, vegetables, legumes, and olive oil, and low consumption of juices had lower risk of aggressive prostate cancer (PC) than those who followed other dietary patterns like Prudent or Western diets. ..."Our results show that a diet oriented towards the prevention of aggressive tumors in the prostate should probably include important elements of the Mediterranean diet such as fish, legumes, and olive oil, and suggest that a high intake of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains might not be enough."
The authors explored the relationship between the risk of having PC and dietary patterns as part of the MCC-Spain study, a Spanish case-control study that involved 733 patients with histologically confirmed PC and 1,229 healthy men with a mean age of 66 years from seven Spanish regions. Anthropometric, epidemiologic, and dietary data were collected.
Adherence to the three dietary patterns of Western, Prudent, and Mediterranean, which characterize the dietary habits of the Spanish population, was evaluated, The Western [dietary] pattern includes consumption of large amounts of fatty dairy products, refined grains, processed meat, caloric beverages, sweets, fast food, and sauces. The Prudent pattern involves consumption of low-fat dairy products, whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and juices. Finally, the Mediterranean pattern consists of high consumption of fish, boiled potatoes, fruits, vegetables, legumes, and olive oil, and low consumption of juices. The diets were graded according to the degree of adherence to each pattern and assigned to four quartiles from lower to higher adherence within each pattern.
Only a high adherence to Mediterranean dietary pattern appeared to be associated with a lower risk of aggressive PC. Prudent and Mediterranean dietary patterns showed different effects in low and high grade tumors.
PC was assessed using Gleason scores of tumor aggressiveness (<6 or ?6) and clinical stage (cT1b to cT4). A Gleason score of <6 typically indicates a less aggressive tumor with generally good prognosis. Lower clinical stage (cT1-cT2a) indicates a tumor that has not spread. Results indicated that for more aggressive and more extensive tumors (Gleason >6 and stages cT2b to cT4), only high adherence to the Mediterranean diet showed a statistically significant protective effect. All other dietary patterns and tumor characteristics showed little or no correlation and did not achieve statistical significance. [Original study.]