Sweet Potato Greens and Prostate Cancer
December 11, 2011 by admin
Filed under Cancer, Cancer Prevention, Nutrition, Robert Wascher, Weekly Health Update, diet, health, lifestyle, polyphenols, prostate cancer
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New research suggests that sweet potato greens may have a role in prostate cancer prevention and treatment.
SWEET POTATO GREENS AND PROSTATE CANCER As I discuss in my bestselling evidence-based book, A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race, even conservative clinical research assessments strongly suggest that at least 50 percent of all new cancer cases are linked to modifiable lifestyle and dietary habits. Polyphenols, a group of powerful dietary antioxidant compounds that I extensively discuss in A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race, have been extensively studied in numerous laboratory and clinical research studies as potential cancer prevention nutrients. Now, a newly published study suggests that polyphenol-rich sweet potato greens may have significant anticancer activity against prostate cancer In this new study, which appears in the current issue of the journal Carcinogenesis, an extract of sweet potato greens was first tested in the laboratory with human prostate cancer cells growing in culture. Molecular studies were then performed, which revealed that sweet potato greens extract shut down important cell growth biochemical pathways in human prostate cancer cells, and accelerated cancer cell death through a mechanism known as apoptosis. (Interestingly, and importantly, however, sweet potato greens extract appeared to have no adverse effects on normal human prostate gland cells.) As it is well known that the results of laboratory-based studies often cannot be reproduced in animal or human studies, the authors of this study then implanted human prostate cancer cells into laboratory mice. These same mice were then fed sweet potato greens extract (400 milligrams per kilogram per day), while another group of mice (the “control group”) did not receive any sweet potato greens extract. At the end of the study, the scientists conducting this research discovered that the prostate cancer tumors growing in the mice who received the sweet potato greens extract were, on average, almost 70 percent smaller than the tumors growing in the control group mice! (Once again, there also appeared to be no adverse effects on normal tissues and organs in the mice that received the sweet potato greens extract.) This research study is the first study to identify significant anticancer effects against prostate cancer associated with sweet potato greens in both cancer cell cultures and in mammals. The potent anticancer effects of sweet potato greens extract, as demonstrated in this very elegant study, and combined with the apparent lack of toxicity, suggest that this polyphenol-rich vegetable may have a role in prostate cancer prevention and, perhaps, prostate cancer treatment; although it will be necessary to repeat this laboratory study in humans to determine if sweet potato greens have similar anticancer effects in people. For a groundbreaking overview of cancer risks, and evidence-based strategies to reduce your risk of developing cancer, order your copy of my new book, “A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race,” from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million,Vroman’s Bookstore, and other fine bookstores! On Thanksgiving Day, 2010, A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race was ranked #6 among all cancer-related books on the Amazon.com “Top 100 Bestseller’s List” for Kindle e-books! On Christmas Day, 2010, A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race was the #1 book on the Amazon.com “Top 100 New Book Releases in Cancer” list! Disclaimer: As always, my advice to readers is to seek the advice of your physician before making any significant changes in medications, diet, or level of physical activity Dr. Wascher is an oncologic surgeon, professor of surgery, cancer researcher, oncology consultant, and a widely published author For a different perspective on Dr. Wascher, please click on the following YouTube link: I and the staff of Weekly Health Update would again like to take this opportunity to thank the more than 100,000 health-conscious people, from around the world, who visit this premier global health information website every month. (More than 1.2 million health-conscious people visited Weekly Health Update in 2010!) As always, we enjoy receiving your stimulating feedback and questions, and I will continue to try and personally answer as many of your inquiries as I possibly can.
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Ginger May Prevent Prostate Cancer
September 18, 2011 by admin
Filed under Cancer, Cancer Prevention, Ginger, Nutrition, Weekly Health Update, diet, health, prostate cancer
Welcome to Weekly Health UpdateNew research suggests that ginger root extract may have potent activity against prostate cancer and other types of cancer.
GINGER MAY PREVENT PROSTATE CANCER As I discuss in my book, A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race, there is a growing body of research evidence demonstrating potent cancer properties associated with certain foods and nutrients. While much of the available research in support of specific dietary and other lifestyle-related approaches to cancer prevention is of low scientific quality, more recent cancer prevention research studies have provided higher levels of scientific and clinical evidence in support of an evidence-based approach to a cancer prevention lifestyle.
A newly published research study, which appears in the current issue of the British Journal of Nutrition, suggests that ginger root may possess clinically important cancer prevention activity. (Previous research studies have also shown that ginger extracts are capable of reducing cancer cell growth in laboratory settings, and are associated with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects as well.) In this particular research study, human prostate cancer cells were transplanted into laboratory mice. In the group of mice that received daily ginger extract dietary supplements (100 milligrams of ginger extract per kilogram of body weight), the growth of these transplanted prostate cancer tumors was reduced by a rather impressive 56 percent when compared to the mice that did not receive ginger extract. When the transplanted prostate cancer tumors were removed from the mice and further studied, the researchers found that the tumors in the mice that had received ginger extract displayed extensive cancer cell death (as compared to the tumors taken from the mice that did not receive ginger extract). Importantly, there was no evidence of side effects noted among the mice that received the ginger extract supplements in this study. The findings of this laboratory research study, when combined with the findings of previous research studies, suggest that ginger may have significant anti-cancer properties. These high-quality laboratory studies have identified multiple biochemical mechanisms whereby ginger appears to significantly impair cancer cell growth and reproduction, and increase cancer cell death through a biological process known as apoptosis. While the findings of this laboratory research study are highly intriguing, I must caution readers that what works in laboratory mice with a genetically engineered faulty immune system does not always turn out to work in humans. Therefore, a prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical research trial will be necessary to determine whether or not ginger supplements can actually reduce prostate cancer risk (and the risk of other cancers) in humans, or slow down the progression of cancer in patients who have already been diagnosed with prostate cancer or other cancers. At the same time, ginger has been used for thousands of years, and most research studies indicate no apparent toxicity in humans after consuming doses of ginger far greater than the dose that was utilized in this particular laboratory study. (As always, however, I strongly recommend that readers first check with their personal physician before adding any new supplements to their diet.)
For a comprehensive guide to living an evidence-based cancer prevention lifestyle, order your copy of my new book, A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race. For the price of a cheeseburger, fries, and a shake, you can purchase this landmark new book, in both paperback and e-book formats, and begin living an evidence-based cancer prevention lifestyle today! For a groundbreaking overview of cancer risks, and evidence-based strategies to reduce your risk of developing cancer, order your copy of my new book, “A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race,” from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million,Vroman’s Bookstore, and other fine bookstores! On Thanksgiving Day, 2010, A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race was ranked #6 among all cancer-related books on the Amazon.com “Top 100 Bestseller’s List” for Kindle e-books! On Christmas Day, 2010, A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race was the #1 book on the Amazon.com “Top 100 New Book Releases in Cancer” list! Disclaimer: As always, my advice to readers is to seek the advice of your physician before making any significant changes in medications, diet, or level of physical activity Dr. Wascher is an oncologic surgeon, professor of surgery, cancer researcher, oncology consultant, and a widely published author For a different perspective on Dr. Wascher, please click on the following YouTube link: I and the staff of Weekly Health Update would again like to take this opportunity to thank the more than 100,000 health-conscious people, from around the world, who visit this premier global health information website every month. (More than 1.2 million health-conscious people visited Weekly Health Update in 2010!) As always, we enjoy receiving your stimulating feedback and questions, and I will continue to try and personally answer as many of your inquiries as I possibly can. |
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Soy (Isoflavones), Osteoporosis, and the Symptoms of Menopause
August 14, 2011 by admin
Filed under Breast Cancer, Cancer, Cancer Prevention, Hot Flashes, Isoflavones, Menopausal Symptoms, Menopause, Nutrition, Osteoporosis, Soy, Weekly Health Update, breast cancer prevention, diet, estrogen, flavonoids, prostate cancer, tofu, women's health initiative study
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Acetaminophen (Tylenol) May Prevent Prostate Cancer
July 17, 2011 by admin
Filed under Acetaminophen, Cancer, Cancer Prevention, Tylenol, Weekly Health Update, aspirin, cardiovascular disease, coronary artery disease, health, heart disease, prostate cancer
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Statin Drugs Decrease Prostate Cancer Risk
June 21, 2011 by admin
Filed under Cancer, Cancer Prevention, Statin Drugs, Statins, Weekly Health Update, health, prostate cancer
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Prostate Cancer: Watchful Waiting Versus Surgery (Prostatectomy)
May 7, 2011 by admin
Filed under Cancer, Cancer Prevention, Prostatectomy, Watchful Waiting, Weekly Health Update, death, health, prostate cancer
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Cruciferous Vegetables and Prostate Cancer Risk
April 20, 2011 by admin
Filed under Cancer, Cancer Prevention, Nutrition, Weekly Health Update, broccoli, cruciferous vegetables, diet, health, isothiocyanates, prostate cancer, sulforaphane
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Prostate Cancer and High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU)
March 30, 2011 by admin
Filed under Cancer Prevention, Erection, HIFU, High Intensity Focused Ultrasound, Impotence, Incontinence, Weekly Health Update, health, prostate cancer, surgery
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Soy, Curcumin & Prostate Cancer Risk
June 27, 2010 by admin
Filed under Isoflavones, Soy, Weekly Health Update, curcumin, prostate cancer
Welcome to Weekly Health Update“A critical weekly review of important new research findings for health-conscious readers” SOY, CURCUMIN & PROSTATE CANCER RISK Because chronic inflammation within the prostate gland is through to be an important risk factor for prostate cancer, anti-inflammatory dietary supplements and medications may be able to reduce the risk of prostate cancer by reducing inflammation. Isoflavones from soy-based foods are known to act as a weak form of estrogen (the dominant female sex hormone). Based upon this estrogen-like behavior, as well as potential anti-inflammatory properties, soy isoflavones are being studied as possible prevention and treatment agents for prostate cancer, and other types of cancer. Curcumin, which is present in the Indian curry spice turmeric, is also known to have potent anti-inflammatory properties, and has also been the subject of considerable cancer prevention and cancer treatment research. A newly published prospective, randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled research study, published in the current issue of the journal Prostate, suggests that the combination of soy isoflavones and curcumin may have important potential prostate cancer prevention properties. In the first part of this study, human prostate cancer cells were treated with a combination of soy isoflavones and curcumin. Treatment of these human cancer cells with soy isoflavones and curcumin resulted in a significant reduction of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) production by these malignant cells (PSA is a marker of both prostate gland inflammation and prostate gland cancer). As regular readers of this column are already aware, treatments performed in the laboratory that have beneficial effects on cancer cells, or on mice or rats, do not always have the same positive effects on living, breathing human beings. Therefore, the findings of the second part of this study are of particular interest. A total of 85 men with elevated PSA levels, but without prostate cancer (as confirmed by prostate biopsy), were enrolled in the second phase of this intriguing small study. These 85 men were divided into two groups, and one group received daily supplements containing both soy isoflavones and curcumin, while the second (control) group of men received placebo (sugar) pills that were identical in appearance to the supplement pills (neither the 85 men, nor the nurses who dispensed the supplement pills and placebo pills, were aware of which pills each study volunteer was receiving until after the research study had been completed). PSA blood levels were tested at the beginning of the clinical portion of this study, and once again 6 months later. As was observed in the prostate cancer cells during the first part of this study, men with a PSA level of 10, or higher, experienced a significant reduction in their blood PSA levels 6 months after starting daily supplementation with soy isoflavones and curcumin. Although this brief study cannot definitively confirm that soy isoflavone and curcumin supplements reduce the risk of prostate cancer, their ability to reduce elevated PSA levels in men with chronic prostate inflammation, but without evidence of prostate cancer, at least suggests a potential role in the prevention of prostate cancer (presumably through a reduction in prostate gland inflammation). While there are multiple human research studies underway that are evaluating the effectiveness of soy isoflavones as cancer prevention agents, currently, there are no major human studies looking at the effects of curcumin on prostate cancer risk. Based upon the findings of this small, interesting study of soy isoflavones and curcumin, which suggest a potential additive effect on PSA reduction when both of these dietary supplements are taken together, human research trials should be developed to look at the long-term impact, if any, of combined soy isoflavone and curcumin supplementation on prostate cancer risk.
For additional research information on soy isoflavones and curcumin in cancer prevention and cancer treatment, please review the following previous columns: Soy Foods & Stomach Cancer Risk Cruciferous Vegetables, Soy & Breast Cancer Risk Soy Isoflavones & Recurrent Prostate Cancer Soy Isoflavones Decrease Breast Cancer Recurrence Risk Genistein (Soy Isoflavone) & Prostate Cancer Diet, Soy & Breast Cancer Risk To learn more about the role of soy isoflavones and curcumin in the prevention of cancer, look for the publication of my new landmark book, “A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race,” in the summer of this year.
Disclaimer: As always, my advice to readers is to seek the advice of your physician before making any significant changes in medications, diet, or level of physical activity Dr. Wascher is an oncologic surgeon, a professor of surgery, a cancer researcher, an oncology consultant, and a widely published author For a different perspective on Dr. Wascher, please click on the following YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-Tdv7XW0qg I and the staff of Weekly Health Update would like to take this opportunity to thank the more than 100,000 new and returning readers who visit our premier global health information website every month. As always, we enjoy receiving your stimulating feedback and questions, and I will continue to try and personally answer as many of your inquiries as I possibly can. |
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Soy Isoflavones & Recurrent Prostate Cancer
February 28, 2010 by admin
Filed under prostate cancer
Welcome to Weekly Health Update“A critical weekly review of important new research findings for health-conscious readers”
SOY ISOFLAVONES & RECURRENT PROSTATE CANCER
The interest level in natural and complementary treatments for cancer has never been higher in the medical and scientific communities than it is now. For decades, now, this area of research was often relegated to the fringes of the clinical research community, while most mainstream academic research centers and Big Pharma companies focused on the design and testing of new biochemical therapies with improved therapeutic and safety profiles. With the 5-year overall survival rate among all patients with cancer approaching a record 65 percent, we have, unquestionably, made enormous improvement in our ability to cure many of the cancers that, not too long ago, were associated with a very high risk of death. Cancer physicians also have far more effective medications available now to control the noxious side effects of many of our “front-line” cancer therapies, which have had the beneficial effect of further reducing suffering and morbidity among thousands of cancer patients as they undergo their daily treatments. Despite the admirable (and ongoing) progress that has been achieved over the past four decades in cancer care, however, nearly 600,000 cancer patients will still succumb to their disease this year in the United States, alone. Thus, more effective cancer prevention strategies are necessary to reduce the number of new cases of cancer, and more effective (and less toxic) cancer therapies must be identified. Moreover, with the annual cost of many new cancer therapies now running into the hundreds-of-thousands of dollars per patient, per year, our already unsustainable (and still rising) health care costs demand that the cancer care community rigorously evaluate less costly approaches to cancer prevention and treatment. Because so-called “natural products” are relatively inexpensive, widely available, and generally non-toxic, there is a growing interest in studying these agents using the same high-level prospective, randomized clinical trials that are routinely used by pharmaceutical companies and academic medical centers to evaluate promising new drug therapies. Because of their great complexity and high cost, however, randomized clinical trials are best reserved for studying novel therapies for which there is at least some laboratory (“preclinical”) or early-phase clinical data available that suggests some potential benefit to humans. Until recently, however, and most likely due to inherent biases against natural products by the mainstream clinical research community in the past, very little high-level clinical research has been performed to definitively evaluate natural products as disease prevention and treatment agents. Fortunately, and despite shrinking research funding over the past decade, there has been a recent surge in the number of large randomized, prospective, controlled clinical research trials reporting their findings of the effects of natural products on disease prevention and treatment. As the vast majority of natural products and lifestyle-related research in the past has been based upon low-powered research methods, it should come as no surprise that recent high-level prospective clinical research studies have, more often than not, found little or no benefit associated with the use of many of these supplements and products. (Moreover, in some cases, several very popular and highly recommended vitamins and dietary supplements have actually been found to be potentially harmful.) However, a great deal of promising high-level clinical research has yet to be done in order to fully and accurately assess the, literally, hundreds of natural products for which there is at least some preclinical data supporting potentially beneficial health effects. (In my forthcoming book, “A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race,” I will be comprehensively reviewing and analyzing the available laboratory and clinical research data on natural products and lifestyle strategies as an integral approach to a cancer prevention lifestyle. The publication of this groundbreaking and authoritative evidence-based cancer prevention guide is tentatively scheduled for May of this year.)
In many respects, prostate cancer is the male counterpart of breast cancer in women. Analogous to breast cancer in women, prostate cancer is the most common cancer that occurs in men (excluding minor skin cancers), and the second most common cause of cancer death. In 2009, an estimated 192,000 new cases of prostate cancer were diagnosed in the United States alone, and approximately 27,000 American men died of this disease in the same year. In most industrialized nations, prostate cancer accounts for approximately 25 percent of all cancer diagnoses in men (similar to the percentage of breast cancer cases among all cancer cases diagnosed in women). A newly published prospective, early-phase, clinical pilot study from Canada evaluated the effects of a soy beverage (“soy milk”) on the progression of recurrent prostate cancer in 29 men following radiation therapy for their cancers. This study, which has just been published in the journal Nutrition and Cancer, was not a placebo-controlled randomized study, however, this small phase II clinical study prospectively followed these patient volunteers for 6 months, during which time serial measurements of the level of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in their blood was performed (PSA is the primary prostate tumor marker that is measured both to detect early prostate cancer and to identify recurrences of this type of cancer.) The time interval during which the level of PSA in the blood doubles is an important indicator of the rate of progression of recurrent prostate cancer. In this small prospective clinical pilot study, the consumption of approximately 500 ml of soy beverage per day, for 6 months, was associated with an actual decline in PSA levels in 4 (14 percent) of these patient volunteers, while another 8 (28 percent) of these recurrent prostate cancer patients experienced a greater than 100 percent increase in their PSA doubling times. However, another 5 patients (17 percent) experienced a 50 percent or greater decrease in their PSA doubling times during the 6 month duration of this study, which was an unfavorable development. Thus, during the brief duration of this intriguing small pilot study, 42 percent of men with early recurrence of their prostate cancer experienced either a decrease in the biochemical extent of their recurrent cancers or a significant biochemical slowing of the progression of their recurrent disease. Whether or not longer durations of soy intake will be able to sustain the impressive results of this study is not clear at this time. More importantly, whether or not these observed favorable effects of daily soy intake on PSA levels and PSA doubling times will actually translate into prolonged survival (or not) is also unknown at this time. It will require several larger and longer-term randomized, placebo-controlled, blinded, prospective clinical trials of soy foods and soy isoflavone supplements to answer these critical questions (several of which are already underway). Meanwhile, the overall safety profile for moderate amounts of soy intake in men appears to be quite favorable, and so many prostate cancer experts are cautiously recommending soy-derived foods for men with prostate cancer, and for men who are at an increased risk of developing prostate cancer, pending the completion of these larger prostate cancer research studies. For a much more detailed and comprehensive evaluation of the role of soy foods, and other dietary supplements and lifestyle modifications, in the prevention of prostate cancer (and other cancers), look for the publication of “A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race” in the spring of this year.
I and the staff of Weekly Health Update would like to take this opportunity to thank the more than 100,000 new and returning readers who have visited our premier global health information website this month, alone. As always, we enjoy receiving your feedback and questions, and I continue to try to personally answer as many of your inquiries as I possibly can.
In view of the extreme devastation and human misery brought about in Haiti and Chile by the recent earthquakes, Weekly Health Update asks our tens of thousands of caring readers to give generously to established charities that are currently working in that country to assist the injured, the ill, and the homeless there. There are many such legitimate charities, including the following two: http://www.imcworldwide.org/haiti Disclaimer: As always, my advice to readers is to seek the advice of your physician before making any significant changes in medications, diet, or level of physical activity
Dr. Wascher is an oncologic surgeon, a professor of surgery, a cancer researcher, an oncology consultant, and a widely published author
For a somewhat lighter perspective on Dr. Wascher, please click on the following YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-Tdv7XW0qg |
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