Prostate news article, March 2008

VITAMIN-C RICH FOOD MAY REDUCE THE RISK OF PROSTATE CANCER Findings published in the March 2008 issue of the journal 'Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases'. Article reported by:   Professor Roger Kirby, Chairman, Prostate UK

MedWire (3/6, Davenport) reported that while "people with a high intake of vitamin C-rich vegetables have a decreased risk of prostate cancer,...other vegetables and fruit do not greatly affect the risk of the disease," according to findings published in the March issue of the journal Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases.

The study involved "1,985 men who were previously exposed to asbestos and randomly assigned to receive 30 mg beta-carotene (or 0.75-30.0 mg if they had abnormal liver function tests) or 7.5 mg retinol supplements daily as part of a cancer prevention program."

Participants were surveyed "to assess average daily intakes of 43 foods during the previous year." The results showed that "increasing intakes of vitamin C-rich foods, such as peppers, broccoli, and spinach, were associated with a lower risk of prostate cancer, with men in the highest tertile of intake having a relative risk of prostate cancer of 0.53 versus the lowest intake."

However, a "multivariate analysis...revealed that vitamin A supplementation, total fruit, and vegetable intakes were not associated with prostate cancer."

The full text of this article is available here from Medwire.