Way to Protect Against Prostate Cancer Posted: 02-22-07 23:20pm
Eating Your Way to Prostate Cancer
By William Faloon
Reviewed and critiqued by Stephen B.
Strum, MD, FACP (Life Extension Scientific
Advisory Board Member)
Cancer cells lurk in the prostate glands
of most aging men, yet only one in six men
is ever diagnosed with prostate cancer.1
If one looks at what is required for a
single cancer cell to develop into a
detectable tumor, it becomes obvious that
natural barriers exist to protect people
against full-blown cancer
Unfortunately, the dietary choices of most
men living in the modern Western world
circumvent the body’s natural protective
barriers. The end result is that we
unwittingly provide biological fuel for
existing prostate cancer cells to
propagate and metastasize.
Good news: If you understand the
biological roles of diet and specific
nutrients, you’ll be able to achieve a
considerable amount of control over
whether isolated cancer cells in your
prostate gland will ever show up as a
clinically diagnosed disease. Nutritional
Supplements
So keep reading, because what you learn
here can make a difference between bad
news and good news in your future.
The impact of the food we ingest on cell
growth and death is so pronounced that it
can be identical to the effects displayed
by anti-cancer drugs. Unlike synthetic
drugs, however, the proper dietary
constituents produce no side effects and
confer additional health benefits.
Prostate cancer with infiltration into
bladder, lymph nodes, and urethra
All cancers begin when genes that regulate
cellular proliferation become so damaged
that they can no longer control normal
cell division. For example, scientists are
actively engaged in clinical research
using selenium because it helps protect
specific genes that enable cells to divide
normally.2-5 The limitation of a nutrient
like selenium, however, is that it may not
be able to reverse accumulated damage
(mutations) to such cell-regulating
genes.
Prostate cell genes are especially prone
to mutations early in the course of human
life. This has been demonstrated by
autopsy findings of prostate cancer cells
in younger men who never knew they had the
disease.6
Doctors continue to wonder why so many men
with active cancer cells in their prostate
glands do not progress to overt disease.
One answer may relate to the discovery of
a particular enzyme that prostate cancer
cells use to propagate, infiltrate, and
metastasize. A large volume of published
research indicates that this enzyme
functions via multiple pathological
pathways to facilitate prostate cancer at
various stages.7-21 The encouraging news
is that this enzyme can be suppressed via
dietary modification and the use of
dietary supplements, many of which are
already being utilized by health-conscious
men today.
Omega 3 Fatty Acids: The First Line of
Defense
Diets high in omega-6 fats and saturated
fats are associated with greater prostate
cancer risk, whereas increased intake of
omega-3 fats from fish has been shown to
reduce risk.22-29 Based on consistent
epidemiological findings across a wide
range of human populations, scientists
have sought to understand why eating the
wrong kinds of fat (saturated and omega-6
fats) provokes a stimulatory effect on
prostate cancer.
To ascertain what happens after we eat bad
fats, all one has to do is look at the
metabolic breakdown pathways that these
fats follow in the body, suckers in the
chart on the right (Figure 1). For
example, let us assume that for dinner,
you eat a steak (a source of saturated
fat) and a salad, along with a typical
salad dressing of soybean and/or safflower
oils (sources of omega-6 fats).
As can be seen in Figure 1, both saturated
and omega-6 fats convert to arachidonic
acid in the body, whereas the meat itself
contains arachidonic acid. One way that
the body rids itself of excess arachidonic
acid is by producing a dangerous enzyme
called 5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX). New studies
show conclusively that 5-LOX directly
stimulates prostate cancer cell
proliferation via several well-defined
mechanisms.2,26,30-36 In addition,
arachidonic acid is metabolized by 5-LOX
to 5-HETE, a potent survival factor that
prostate cancer cells utilize to escape
destruction.31,37-40
Figure 1 clearly demonstrates how
consuming a diet of foods rich in
arachidonic acid directly provokes the
production of the dangerous 5-LOX enzyme,
which can promote the progression of
prostate cancer. In addition to 5-HETE,
5-LOX also metabolizes arachidonic acid to
leukotriene B4, a potent pro-inflammatory
agent that causes destructive reactions
throughout the body and inflicts severe
damage to the arterial wall.41-47
One reason that fish oil supplements have
become so popular is that their beneficial
EPA/DHA fatty acids can help reduce
production of arachidonic acid in the
body. suckers in Figure 1, if arachidonic
acid levels are reduced, there would be a
corresponding suppression of 5-LOX,
5-HETE, and leukotriene B4.
Prostate tumor confined to prostate gland.
Once one understands the lethal
5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX) cascades, it is
easy to see why people who excessively
consume foods rich in arachidonic acid,
and those who do not reduce the production
of excessive arachidonic acid metabolites,
are setting themselves up for prostate
cancer and a host of inflammatory diseases
(including atherosclerosis).2,30,35,48,49
5-LOX Is Over-expressed in Prostate
Cancer
Based on studies showing that consumption
of foods rich in arachidonic acid is
greatest in regions with high incidences
of prostate cancer,26,30,35,49 scientists
sought to determine how much of the 5-LOX
enzyme is present in malignant versus
benign prostate tissues.
Using biopsy samples taken from living
human patients, the researchers found that
5-LOX levels were an astounding six-fold
greater in malignant prostate tissues
compared to benign tissues. This study
also found that levels of 5-HETE (a 5-LOX
metabolite that prevents prostate cancer
destruction) were 2.2-fold greater in
malignant versus benign prostate
tissues.33
The scientists concluded this study by
stating that selective inhibitors of 5-LOX
may be useful in the prevention or
treatment of patients with prostate
cancer.
Figure 1. Flow chart showing how the body
metabolizes common foods via the
5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX) pathway.
5-LOX Promotes Tumor Growth Factors
As the evidence mounts that ingesting
“bad fats” increases prostate cancer
risk, scientists are evaluating the
effects of 5-LOX on various growth factors
involved in the progression, angiogenesis,
and metastasis of cancer cells.
One study found that 5-LOX activity is
required to stimulate prostate cancer cell
growth by epidermal growth factor (EGF)
and other cancer cell proliferating
factors produced in the body. When 5-LOX
levels were reduced, the cancer cell
stimulatory effect of EGF and other growth
factors was diminished.30
In a mouse study, an increase in 5-LOX
resulted in a corresponding increase in
vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF),
a key growth factor that tumor cells use
to stimulate new blood vessel formation
(angiogenesis) into the tumor. 5-LOX
inhibitors were shown to reduce tumor
angiogenesis along with a host of other
growth factors.50 In both
androgen-dependent and
androgen-independent human prostate cancer
cell lines, the inhibition of
5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX) has consistently
been shown to induce rapid and massive
apoptosis (cancer cell
destruction).26,49,51-54
Nutrients That Suppress 5-LOX
Health-conscious people already take
nutrients like fish oil that help to lower
5-LOX activity in the body.20,21 Studies
show that lycopene and saw palmetto
extract also help to suppress
5-LOX.51,55-68 The suppression of 5-LOX by
these nutrients may partially account for
their favorable effects on the prostate
gland.
As humans age, however, chronic
inflammatory processes can cause the
over-expression of 5-LOX in the body. For
maturing males, the result of excess 5-LOX
may be the epidemic of prostate cancer
observed after the age of 60.
Based on the cumulative knowledge that
5-LOX can promote the invasion and
metastasis of prostate cancer cells, it
would appear advantageous to take
aggressive steps to suppress this lethal
enzyme. The good news is that a natural
5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX) inhibitor is now
available and has been added to a popular
formula used to maintain healthy prostate
function.
In addition to potentially suppressing
prostate cancer, the successful inhibition
of 5-LOX should also slow the progression
of atherosclerosis.
