Lifestyle and Diet Changes Help Slow Down Prostate Cancer

The most common cancer in American men, with around 200,000 new cases diagnosed each year and approximately 31,000 deaths each year, prostate cancer is serious and if left untreated, deadly.

Since common methods may actually be adding insult to injury, natural methods are being suggested and adviced. In this case, it's changing your lifestyle and diet to a healthy one. Doing so may help slow the progression of prostate cancer.

It has been noted in studies worldwide that staying within a healthy weight range and eating more plant-based food as opposed to animal products may possibly delay or prevent the development of prostate cancer.

Evidence is mounting that foods rich in vitamin E and the mineral selenium may dramatically decrease both the incidence of prostate cancer and the risk of dying from it.

Men who take those nutritional supplements in certain doses actually suffer less prostate cancer and a lower mortality rate due to prostate cancer.

Researchers recommend that men increase their intake of these vitamins and minerals through whole foods. Seafood, meat and Brazil nuts are good selenium sources, while vegetable oils, sweet potatoes, avocados, and nuts are rich in vitamin E.

Men who consume higher levels of lycopene, a nutrient found in most tomato products, have also been shown to have a lower risk of prostate cancer.

Cancer Spreads Throughout the Body When Using Common Prostate Cancer Treatment

Based on a recent study, it was found that the more commonly used prostate cancer therapy called, androgen deprivation therapy, may actually cause the cancer to spread to other parts of the body. Because prostate tumor growth is generally stimulated by male sex hormones, androgen deprivation therapy, in which those hormones are suppressed, is often given to patients in order to slow tumor growth.

Prior research has demonstrated that a protein called nestin tends to be produced by prostate cancer that have metastasized to other parts of the body. Nestin does not appear to be produced by cancer cells, however, in cases where the cancer has not spread.

Researchers experimented on androgen-dependent prostate cancer cells in the laboratory. When they cut off the cells' access to androgens, the cells increased their production of nestin.

The researchers then use the technique known as RNA interference to make the cancer cells less able to produce nestin. When the cells were transplanted into the bodies of mice, they were found to be less likely to spread to other locations than unmodified cells were. The nestin-production-hampered cells were also found to have a decreased ability to move through or around other cells when compared with unmodified prostate cancer cells.

No connection was found that the nestin levels had any impact on tumor growth. "What all this suggests is that nestin levels increased when prostate cancer cells are deprived of androgens and may encourage the cells to metastasize," according to one researcher.

Take Care of Your Prostate

Prostate is a small gland available only in men, situated right underneath of the bladder. It surrounds the urethra just like a collar. Its use is for secreting most of the fluids that are found in the sperm and that help spermatozoids swim easily towards the woman’s uterus.

Just like any other organ in our body, the prostate can get "sick" as well. That's why we have to take care of it too. If not, it can be a cause of pain and discomfort. Fortunately, there are things we can do to help our body avoid prostate affections. Here are a few you can do:

• Eat more beans, walnuts, tofu and aliments that are rich in vitamin C and E, zinc and beta-carotene - Doctors recommend men to consume three times a week a fish meal. Their omega-3 acids are good for increasing our immunity and prevent infections.
• Eat pumpkin seeds - These seeds contain an important quantity of zinc and phytosterols that protect the prostate. If you want to protect your prostate eat daily 1-2 teaspoons of pumpkin seeds. They are quite delicious and easy to eat.
• Tomatoes are also prostate protectors - Their red color, given by lycopene has an important function for our health, not just a decorative effect. Tomatoes decrease the risk of developing prostate cancer! They also ease the BPH symptoms. 2-3 tomatoes a day should help you maintain your prostate integrity for sure.
• Try the small palm tree extract - You can find this natural product in capsules named Saw Palmetto Herb Extract. This extract is great for reducing the number of ‘visits’ to the bathroom during the night, it improves the urinary flux and protects prostate in general. You doctor might recommend this treatment for 3 months as the positive effects can only be seen after 2 months of treatment.
• Stop smoking - An American study has proven that quitting smoking reduces the symptoms of BPH and also decreases the risk of developing prostate cancer. So think of what is best for you: smoking or your health?
• Make love - Due to the fact that the prostate is involved in the semen production process, ejaculation seems to have a therapeutic effect. It is like a special prostate exercise. Not to mention that is benefic for you whole body too.

As you can see, the things you can do to help your body seem pretty easy and some are even pleasurable. So go on, start a healthier life now.

New Way to Predict Cancer Spreading

One of the leading causes of death for men has been prostate cancer that has spread to a second site or otherwise known as metastatic prostate cancer. Metastasis or the defining of molecular mechanisms by which the initial tumor becomes able to spread to a new site is being used to help clinicians predict an individual's chance of survival and help researchers develop new therapies.

It has been identified that a specific form of the protein KLF6 (KLF6-SV1) is indicative of poor survival in men with prostate cancer. The information in genes is converted into a protein via an intermediate known as mRNA. In the study, analysis of tumors from men with localized prostate cancer who had undergone a prostatectomy revealed that increased levels of an mRNA intermediate involved in the generation of KLF6-SV1 correlated with more rapid disease recurrence and decreased survival.

Consistent with this having an important role in metastasis, prostate cancer cells expressing increased levels of KLF6-SV1 metastasized more rapidly and more often than normal prostate cancer cells in two mouse models of metastatic prostate cancer.

Conversely, decreasing KLF6-SV1 expression in prostate cancer cells decreased tumor growth in mice. The authors therefore suggest that measuring KLF6-SV1 expression levels in prostate cancer tumors at the time of diagnosis might help clinicians predict whether or not the tumor will metastasize and that targeting KLF-SV1 might provide a new avenue for the development of therapeutics to treat individuals with prostate cancer.

This is very wonderful news and hopefully, this study will succeed in order to help more people thwart the threat of prostate cancer.

Broccoli and Other Veggies Lowers Risk of Aggressive Prostate Cancer

In recent studies, it has been shown that eating veggies like broccoli and cauliflower may actually reduce the risk of developing aggressive prostate cancer. This study fills the gap between observational studies and studies with cell and animal models. While observational studies have shown that diets rich in cruciferous vegetables may reduce the risk of prostate cancer and other chronic disease, they do not provide an explanation of how this occurs. Evidence from animal and cell models has sought to provide an explanation, but these studies are usually based on high doses that would not normally be experienced as part of the diet.

The results of the study suggested that relatively low amounts of cruciferous vegetables in the diet like a few portions per week, can have large effects on gene expression by changing cell signaling pathways. These signaling pathways are the routes by which information is transmitted through a molecular cascade which amplifies the signal to the nucleus of the cell where gene expression occurs.

Although, there is still no explanation for this, it is seen that there can be something good from this. Now a Norwich-based team are looking towards a bigger study on why and how this works. Hopefully, very soon, we will have the right explanation for this. But for now, keep eating your veggies!

Pomegranate Juice: Targeting the Prostate Cancer Cells

A research in California has found that the trendy beverage also uses a search-and-destroy strategy to target prostate cancer cells. On consumption, ellagitannins (ET), antioxidants abundant in pomegranate juice, break down to metabolites known as urolithins. The researchers showed that the urolithins concentrate at high levels in prostate tissue after being given orally and by injection to mice with prostate cancer. They also showed that urolithins inhibited the growth of human prostate cancer cells in cell culture.

"The chemopreventive potential of pomegranate ellagitannins and localization of their bioactive metabolites in mouse prostate tissue suggest that pomegranate may play a role in prostate cancer treatment and chemoprevention," the researchers state, recommending further clinical studies with pomegranate and prostate cancer patients.

This is wonderful news for patients seeking natural cures. So what are you waiting for? Juice up!

New Urine Test Detects Prostate Cancer Better Than Other Methods

This is really good news but what is it? How does it work?

It is basically a simple urine test that screens for the presence of four different RNA molecules. In a recent study, it accurately identified 80 percent of patients in a study who were later found to have prostate cancer, and was 61 percent effective in ruling out disease in other study participants.

Compared to the current PSA bloodtest, this is very accurate. "Relative to what is out there, this is the best test so far," said the study's lead author, Arul Chinnaiyan, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Michigan Center for Translational Pathology at the University of Michigan.

Better news is that they're not done yet and that they want to improve on this first generation multiplex biomarket test as they want to develop a test to allow physicians to predict whether their patients have prostate cancer that is so accurate a biopsy won't be needed to rule cancer out. That, so far, has never been done before and is currently unavailable.

I hope they do succeed with this project. This is a truly remarkable invention that can save lives.

Pesticides Can Cause Prostate Cancer

According to a study, farmers have an unusually high risk of prostate cancer, largely due to their use of certain pesticides. The results confirm previous studies that have found associations between pesticide use and risk of prostate cancer among farmers. Researchers analyzed 55,332 farmers and nursery workers who worked with pesticides in Iowa and North Carolina. Among the participants, 566 new cases of prostate cancer developed between 1993 and 1999, compared to 495 that would normally be expected. Compared to the rest of us, farmers have 14% more greater risk of developing prostate cancer.

Six pesticides, chlorpyrifos, coumaphos, fonofos, phorate, permethrin and butylate, raised the prostate cancer risk in men with a history of the disease, while one pesticide, methyl bromide, raised the risk in all of the men.

The use of pesticides should be lessened or stopped to avoid further exposure. Proper equipment should also be used.

Natural BPH remedies

We all know that herbal and homeopathic remedies have been used for centuries to treat a number of conditions and the prostate gland is another example that can be soothed by a number of herbal alternatives.

Saw palmetto and Epilobium parviflorum are a good example of herbs that are able to relieve uncomfortable BPH symptoms. There are other herbs that can help in assisting the body’s ability to strengthen the immune system, address testicular tumors, prostate hypertrophy and urinary infections. An extract of the African potato otherwise known as hypoxis rooperi is one that is able to help the body cope with the symptoms of BPH and is extensively used in African traditional medicines.

As a last advice, make sure to always source out your natural medicines from reputable suppliers for maximum safety and peace of mind.

More Risks in Radiation Treatment

Having radiation treatment for prostate cancer is more costly than it seems.

Recently, a group of doctors have found out that having prostate cancer treated by radiation can actually increase the risk of developing other cancers. Dr. Naeem Bhojani, from the University of Montreal’s Department of Urology, led a group of researchers from Canada, Italy and the United States to gather data on 10,333 men being treated for localized prostate cancer. Of the 10,333 men, 4,137 underwent external beam radiation. It was later determined that undergoing external beam radiation increases the risk of developing bladder cancer by as much as three times.

This is probably a wakeup call for most of us to try and treat prostate cancer naturally.