Prostate cancer : diet and lifestyle can reverse the course of the disease

Men suffering from prostate cancer early stage who decide to change radically their diet and lifestyle are likely to see it stop or even reverse the course of their disease , researchers report in the " Journal of Urology "
First of a series of trials attempting to better identify the exact role of diet and lifestyle in the prevention and treatment of prostate cancer , this study was directed by Dean Ornish and Peter Carroll in the University of California at San Francisco, in collaboration with William Fair , head of the urology department and president of the Chair of urologic Oncology at Memorial Sloan -Kettering Cancer Center.

It focuses on 93 men with prostate cancer confirmed by biopsy , who decided , for reasons of their own , not to follow conventional treatment . Half of the participants were instructed to radically change their diet and lifestyle, while the other half received no specific recommendation.

After one year, the researchers observed a significant decrease (-4 %) of PSA in men who have changed their lifestyle , while he is high ( 6 %) in other . There was a direct correlation between the degree of change in the lifestyle and the PSA .

In addition, in vitro tests showed that the serum of participants in the first group 70% inhibited the growth of prostate tumor , against only 9% of men in the control group . Once again, the importance of this effect was perfectly correlated with the degree of change in lifestyle.

As in coronary disease , radical food and lifestyle changes can therefore help reverse the trend of early prostate cancer and little progress , the researchers conclude.