Low-Fat Diet, Exercise Slow Cancer
Excerpt By Deana Beasley, Reuters Health

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A low-fat, high-fiber diet combined with regular exercise may slow the growth of prostate cancer cells in men by up to 30%, researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles said on Monday.

Prostate cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer deaths, after lung cancer, in American men.

``Our study suggests that men who go on a low-fat, high-fiber diet with exercise can favorably affect hormones and serum growth factors that influence prostate cancer growth,'' Dr. William Aronson, a senior researcher at UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center and senior author of the study, told Reuters.

The UCLA study, which combined blood serum from healthy men with cancer cells in a test tube, is the first to directly measure the effects of the lifestyle changes on prostate cancer cells, the researcher said.

``No one has ever studied patient serum directly. The results are extremely compelling,'' Aronson said.

The results are published in the September issue of the Journal of Urology.

Researchers collected samples of serum--blood from which red blood cells and clotting factors have been extracted--from two groups of healthy men. One group included 13 overweight men ages 42 to 73 who had not been eating a healthy diet or exercising regularly. These men went on a strict 11-day diet and exercise regimen. A second group included eight men ages 38 to 74 who had eaten a healthy diet and exercised regularly for more than 14 years.

Meals in the 11-day diet regimen contained less than 10% of calories from fat and lots of vegetables, fruits and whole grains. Alcohol, tobacco and caffeinated beverages were not permitted. The exercise component involved walking at a quick pace for 30 to 60 minutes 4 to 5 days a week, and once or twice a week at a slower pace for 40 to 60 minutes.

At the end of the 11-day regimen, prostate cancer cells immersed in serum from the men in this group showed a 30% slower growth rate than cells immersed in serum samples taken prior to the regimen.

In addition, prostate cancer cells exposed to serum from the second group grew at a rate 40% below that of the original samples from the group of overweight men.

``As a scientist, I can't say I'm certain that these results would be duplicated in the body, but I can say the effect is real,'' Aronson said.

He said UCLA is launching another study to examine the impact of diet and exercise on cancer cell growth in prostate cancer patients. Results from that study should be available in about a year.

``If a low-fat, high-fiber diet is found to change specific growth factors and hormones that affect cancer growth, these lifestyle changes could very well have a role in the development of cancer,'' Aronson said.

One theory that has been supported in autopsies of men who have died of causes other than cancer is that all men have prostate cancer cells that are clinically inactive. ``Men who have sedentary lifestyles and bad diets may stimulate these cells to become active,'' Aronson speculated.

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