Calcium Phosphate Reduces Cholesterol Levels

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer affecting American men, except for skin cancer. As many as 16% of men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer at some point in their lives. By age 80, more than half of all men will have cancerous cells in their prostate.

Symptoms of prostate cancer in its early stages are rare. Even though men in their early 50s are unlikely to have any symptoms, that doesn't mean they are cancer-free. It's quite possible that some precancerous or cancerous cells are already present and growing by age 50. Although most of these cancers will probably never pose a serious problem, 3% of the men with prostate cancer will die from it.

Aside from early detection followed by drastic procedures such as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, there are no "approved" treatment or preventative measures for prostate cancer. Nevertheless, a growing body of evidence is pointing to nutrition as an important factor in cancer growth. The most recent study, from Canadian investigators at the Laval University Cancer Research Center in Québec, demonstrates that nutritional doses of antioxidant vitamins (vitamin C, vitamin E, and β-carotene) and minerals (selenium and zinc) can significantly reduce the risk of developing prostate cancer.¹

This was not the first study to make a connection between nutrition and prostate cancer. In one randomized trial from the United Kingdom (UK), selenium supplementation resulted in "substantial reductions" in the incidence of prostate cancer as well as total cancer incidence and mortality (although it had no effect on skin cancers).²

Other research has linked intake of fish oil,⁴ lycopene,⁵ green tea,⁶ and cruciferous vegetables (eg, broccoli) and their anticarcinogenic components (eg, indole-3-carbinol [I3C],⁷ diindolylmethane [DIM])⁸ to protection from prostate cancer. In a study³ of more than 29,000 male smokers, aged 50 to 69 years, from Finland, the men were randomized to receive vitamin E (α-tocopherol) (50 mg), β-carotene (20 mg), both, or placebo for a median of 6.1 years. Vitamin E consumption was associated with a 32% decrease in prostate cancer incidence and a 41% decrease in prostate cancer-related deaths, compared with placebo. On the other hand, β-carotene intake was associated with a 23% increase in prostate cancer and a 15% increase in deaths.

While this last finding appears to sound a discordant note, keep in mind that studies that evaluate antioxidant nutrients in isolation from each other are inherently flawed, because antioxidants typically work in "teams." As research scientists Durk Pearson & Sandy Shaw have pointed out, "Comparing the health-promoting effects of diets rich in fruits and vegetables to the health effects of single antioxidant supplements (such as vitamin C or E [or beta-carotene]) is worse than comparing apples to oranges, since antioxidants are known to work together in free-radical-controlling systems. Yet most randomized, double-blind, controlled studies of nutrient-disease relationships have tested only a single nutrient's effects on the incidence of chronic diseases, eg, the Physicians' Health Study that studied the effect of beta-carotene on the risk of lung cancer. Most supplement users take supplements as combinations of nutrients, not as an individual substance. Because antioxidants work in conjunction with other antioxidants and nutrients, a combination of such supplements is likely to have a more beneficial, more physiological effect than daily supplements of just one substance."

The new results from Canada were drawn from a large trial of men (and women) aged 46 to 60 years called the "supplémentation en vitamins et minéraux antioxidants" (SU.VI.MAX).¹ Its primary goal was to evaluate the possible role of supplementation with nutritional doses of antioxidant vitamins in decreasing the incidence of various forms of cancer as well as ischemic heart disease (eg, angina, myocardial infarction/heart attack). At baseline, more than 3600 men were examined and found to be free of prostate cancer. Plasma samples were analyzed to measure five biochemical markers of prostate cancer risk: total plasma PSA (prostate-specific antigen), free PSA, % free PSA, insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) and IGF-II. The men were then randomly divided to receive either nutritional supplements or placebo.

After a median of about 9 years, 103 new cases of prostate cancer were diagnosed. The incidence was significantly related to age, baseline PSA, and body mass index (BMI). Overall, antioxidant supplementation was associated with a lower incidence of prostate cancer. However, the efficacy of supplementation was affected by two factors: baseline PSA and serum vitamin C levels. Supplementation significantly cut the rate of prostate cancer nearly in half (48%) in men with a low baseline PSA (<3 μg/L), representing 90% of the participants. However, it increased the incidence in men with PSA >3 μg/L, although this increase was only of borderline statistical significance. The authors surmise that this increase may have been related to yet undiagnosed prostate pathologies.

Similarly with baseline vitamin C levels, antioxidant vitamin and mineral supplementation also reduced the rate of prostate cancer by 48%. By contrast, in those men with high serum vitamin C levels, supplementation was associated with a nearly 48% borderline significant increase in prostate cancer risk. Surprisingly, the two treatment groups did not differ significantly on any of the five markers of prostate cancer risk. It's likely that neither the PSA nor IGF axes are involved by the biologic mechanisms of prostate cancer chemoprevention by antioxidant vitamins and minerals. Because the trial involved a combination of nutrients, there's no way to determine from these data the particular roles of individual nutrients.

While the survival rate of the prostate cancer has improved from 67% to 97% over the last 2 decades, the incidence of the disease remains high. In 2003, an estimated 220,900 men developed prostate cancer and 28,900 died from the disease. Only lung cancer kills more men. These new data suggest that regular use of a good multinutrient antioxidant formulation might prevent as many as 100,000 of those cases and save 13,000 to 14,000 lives each year. Combining those nutrients with others such as fish oil, lycopene, green tea, DIM, I3C, and others might make an even bigger impact.

Protocol: Prostate Health

It's a safe bet that by the time a man reaches middle age, he knows some other man who has experienced prostate problems — whether benign or malignant — if he has not experienced them himself.