Low-fat, fish oil diet 'slows growth of prostate cancer cells'
A low-fat diet with fish oil supplements for four to six weeks has been found to slow the growth of prostate cancer cells in human tissue, in a study by researchers at UCLA that compared the regime with a traditional high-fat Western diet.
The low-fat diet contained 15% of calories from fat, compared to 40% in the comparable Western Diet.
Men on the low-fat, fish oil supplement diet were able to change the composition of their cell membranes in both the healthy cells and the cancer cells in the prostate. Blood taken from the case studies also found that the low-fat, fish oil diet slowed the growth of prostate cancer cells in a test tube as compared to blood from men on the Western diet, which did not slow cancer growth.
They also measured proliferation, or the rate of prostate cancer cell division
"The lower the rate of proliferation, the lesser the chances that the cancer will spread outside the prostate, where it is much harder to treat," said Dr William Aronson, the study's first author and a researcher with UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.
This was based on a small sample but they are now organising a much larger study of 100 men with prostate cancers who have elected active surveillance, meaning they're not getting any treatment for their disease but are getting regular biopsies and check-ups.
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Tags:
- cancer ,
- healthy eating ,
- nutrition ,
- prostate cancer ,
- ucla
