Category: Other cancers

Walnuts slow prostate cancer growth

A new study suggests that mice with prostate tumors should say “nuts to cancer.” Paul Davis of the University of California, Davis, hopes follow-up data by his team and others will one day justify men saying the same.

A 2010 study indicates that mice who have cancer of the prostate benefit from increased nuts in their diet.  Researchers are doing follow-up studies to see whether the benefit may extend to men.

Most nuts in reasonable amounts can benefit the heart. But among walnuts’ special attributes were their ability to fight inflammation, an underlying cause of much heart disease, and to allow vessels to dilate as needed.

A major factor for many cancers is the presence of Inflammation in the body.  The researchers have determined that walnuts can effect endothelin production.  Endothelin is a protein that is related to blood pressure control and also to helping  regulate prostate growth.

In walnuts, omega-3 fatty acids, minerals and other trace elements, possibly even the protein content, appear to be slowing prostate tumor growth.

Researchers: Paul Davis and colleagues, U. California at Davis, CA.

Sugary sodas linked to pancreatic cancer: study

Analyses of data collected on 60,524 Singapore Chinese adults showed that people who drank two or more sugar-sweetened soft drinks a week were at greater risk of developing pancreatic cancer compared with individuals who did not, the study published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention says.

A study published in 2010 which analyzed data collected for 60,524  Chinese adults in Singapore demonstrated that those people who consume two or more sugar-sweetened soft drinks weekly were at higher risk of suffering from pancreatic cancer compared with those who do not drink sugary drinks.

However, the researchers did not find a link was found between  juice consumption and pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic cancer is a rapidly fatal cancer in adults.  Fewer than 5% of patients survive five or more years after being diagnosed with this form of cancer.

Published: Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, 2010.

Low Cholesterol Linked to Lower Risk of Some Types of Prostate Cancer

A new study published in Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, shows that men whose cholesterol was in a healthy range (below 200) had less than half the risk of developing high-grade prostate tumors compared to men with high cholesterol.

Researchers studied 5,586 men aged 55 and older who participated in the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial between 1993 and 1996.  Although cholesterol levels made no difference in the odds of getting prostate cancer for most of the participants, it made a significant difference for the 60 men who developed high-grade tumors which grow and spread fast. For these men, the chance of developing an aggressive tumor was 59% lower among men with cholesterol under 200.

Although more research is planned on the topic, this study reinforces the idea that limiting fats in the bloodstream can reduce the risk of cancer.

SOURCE:  Men with Low Serum Cholesterol Have a Lower Risk of High-Grade Prostate Cancer in the Placebo Arm of the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial, Platz, et al, Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2009;18(11):2807–13.

Green Tea May Lower Risk of Some Cancers

A new study suggests that drinking green tea may lower the risk of developing certain blood cancers.

Researchers in Japan studied 41,761 adults aged 40 to 79 without a history of cancer. After answering a food frequency questionnaire, participants were followed for 9 years. During this time 157 blood, bone marrow, and lymph system cancers developed in the study group.

Researchers found that the overall risk for blood cancers was 42% lower among study participants who drank 5 or more (versus 1 or fewer) cups of green tea daily. Drinking 5 or more cups of green tea daily was also associated with a 48% lower risk for lymph system cancers.

The results, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, show that these associations held up in even when allowances were made for age, gender, education, smoking status and history, alcohol use, and fish and soybean consumption.

SOURCE: Green tea consumption and hematologic malignancies in Japan: the Ohsaki study, Naganuma, et al, Am J Epidemiol 2009,Sep,15;170(6):730-8; (PMID: 19640889)