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Statins Lower Prostate Cancer Risk

Studies Also Tout Vitamin D for Lung Cancer, Calcium for Colon Cancer

By Charlene Laino
WebMD Medical News Reviewed By Michael Smith, MD
on Monday, April 18, 2005

April 18, 2005 (Anaheim, Calif.) — Certain cholesterol-lowering drugs may help prevent prostate cancer, according to evidence presented at a meeting of cancer experts, while other studies showed the benefits of nutrients to fight lung and colon cancers.

Statins Cut Prostate Cancer Risk

In the latest research to show that the popular cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins are good for more than the heart,statins are good for more than the heart, a 10-year study of more than 30,000 men shows that statins may slash the risk of advanced prostate cancer in half.

“The results are promising,” says Elizabeth Platz, ScD, MPH, a cancer epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore. “The longer the men took the statins, the lower the risk of advanced prostate cancer.”

Statin use did not appear to lower the chance a man would develop early cancer that was still confined to the prostate itself, she tells WebMD.

Statins used to treat high cholesterol include Crestor, Lipitor, Pravachol, and Zocor.

Advanced Prostate Cancer Falls 50%

The new study, presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, included more than 34,000 men who were free of prostate cancer in 1990.

Every two years, the men were asked whether they took cholesterol-lowering drugs — statins or other drugs — and if they had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. “If they said they had cancer, we confirmed the diagnosis,” Platz says.

By 2000, 2,074 men had developed prostate cancer. Of these, 283 cases were advanced prostate cancer, with many of them having already spread outside the prostate.

Compared with men who didn’t take cholesterol-lowering drugs, those who did take them had nearly one-half the risk of developing advanced prostate cancer. Risk decreased with increasing duration of use, Platz notes.

So how did she know that statins — not other cholesterol-lowering drugs — were responsible for the protective effects?

“We can’t rule anything out,” Platz says. “But on the 2000 questionnaire, we specifically asked about statins and found that 90% of men on a cholesterol-lowering drug were on a statin.”

Plus, some laboratory and animal studies hint of a biological rationale for using the drugs, she says. For example, statins may promote cancer cell death.

Statins Ready for Prime Time?

Smaller studies have shown that statin use is associated with a reduced risk of a variety of cancers, including that of the prostate, but this is the first time the researchers tracked medication use before the study participants developed cancer, Platz says.

The better design of the study is what makes the observation so exciting, says Andrew J. Dannenberg, MD, director of cancer prevention at New York Presbyterian Hospital-Cornell in New York City.

“This study stands apart from previous work that suggested a protective effect,” he tells WebMD. “It was really well done. It appears that statin use is associated with a better prognosis.”

But until the findings are confirmed in other large, well-designed studies, both Platz and Dannenberg caution that it’s too soon to recommend that men at high risk for prostate cancerhigh risk for prostate cancer start taking statins for their antitumor properties.

Vitamin D for Lung Cancer

Another study revealed that patients diagnosed with early lung cancer may want to reach for vitamin D supplements and get out in the sun. The body produces vitamin D when the skin is exposed to the sun.

The preliminary study looked at 450 men and women with early stage non-small-cell lung cancer. Researchers were looking at the potential effects of vitamin D in the diet and supplements, as well as from sun exposure. They compared people with high vitamin D intake who had surgery in the summer months to those with low vitamin D intake who had wintertime operations.

The high-vitamin D group was more than twice as likely to be alive five years later.

While milk and fish are rich in vitamin D, it’s nearly impossible to get the high amounts needed for the protective effects just from food — the equivalent of about 600 IU a day, says researcher Wei Zhou, PhD, of the Harvard School of Public Health.

Calcium for Colon Cancer

Calcium supplements have been linked to a lower risk of colon cancer.lower risk of colon cancer. Now researchers have found that long-term use of calcium supplements protects against the development of potentially precancerous colon polyps for years after you stop taking them.

Dartmouth researchers followed people at high risk for colon polyps who had been randomly assigned to take either 1,200 milligrams of calcium supplements for four years or a placebo.

During the first five years after they stopped taking the supplements, those who had taken calcium during the study were still about one-third less likely to develop colon polyps than those on a placebo.

But after five years, the beneficial effects started to taper off and nearly disappeared by 10 years later, says John Baron, MD.

SOURCES: 96th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, Anaheim, Calif., April 16-20, 2005. Elizabeth Platz, ScD, MPH, professor of epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore. Andrew J. Dannenberg, MD, director, cancer prevention, New York Presbyterian Hospital-Cornell, New York City. Wei Zhou, PhD, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston. John Baron, MD, professor of medicine, Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, N.H.

Green tea shown to prevent prostate cancer

21 Apr 2005

After a year’s oral administration of green tea catechins (GTCs), only one man in a group of 32 at high risk for prostate cancer developed the disease, compared to nine out of 30 in a control, according to a team of Italian researchers from the University of Parma and University of Modena and Reggio Emilia led by Saverio Bettuzzi, Ph.D.

Their results were reported here today at the 96th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research.

“Numerous earlier studies, including ours, have demonstrated that green tea catechins, or pure EGCG (a major component of GTCs), inhibited cancer cell growth in laboratory models,” Bettuzzi explained. “We wanted to conduct a clinical trial to find out whether catechins could prevent cancer in men. The answer clearly is yes.”

Earlier research demonstrated primarily that green tea catechins were safe for use in humans. Bettuzzi and his colleagues had found that EGCG targets prostate cancer cells specifically for death, without damaging the benign controls. They identified Clusterin, the most important gene involved in apoptosis, or programmed cell death in the prostate, as a possible mediator of catechins action. “EGCG induced death in cancer cells, not normal cells, inducing Clusterin expression” said Bettuzzi.

To gauge susceptibility for prostate cancer among their research subjects, the team of Italian scientists recruited men with high-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia - premalignant lesions that presage invasive prostate cancer within one year in nearly a third of cases and for which no treatment was given.

Eligible men were between 45 and 75 years of age. Vegetarians and men consuming green tea or derived products, or those taking anti-oxidants or following anti-androgenic therapy were excluded.

Of the 62 volunteers, 32 received three tablets per day of 200 mg each GTCs; the remainder were given a placebo. Follow-up biopsies were administered after six months and again at one year. Only one case of prostate cancer was diagnosed among those receiving 600 mg daily of GTCs, while nine cases were found in the untreated group. The 30 percent incidence rate among controls is consistent with previous findings, as was the absence of significant side effects or adverse reactions.

The interest in green tea catechins and other polyphenols - antioxidants found in many plants that give some flowers, fruits and vegetables their coloring - derives from traditional Chinese medicine, and the observation of lower cancer rates among Asian populations.

Bettuzzi observed that the Mediterranean diet is rich in vegetables, and lower rates of prostate cancer are found in that region, as well.

The 600 mg-per-day dosage of caffeine-free, total catechins (50 percent of which is EGCG) given to participants in the Italian study is one or two times the amount of green tea consumed daily in China, where ten to 20 cups a day is normal.

“We still don’t know enough about the biological processes leading to prostate cancer,” Bettuzzi noted. “The only thing we know for sure is that prostate cancer is diffuse, related to age and more prevalent in the West. Thus, prevention could be the best way to fight it. Although our follow-up will continue for up to five years, a larger, confirmatory study is needed.”

Even so, Bettuzzi hints at the exciting prospect of using green tea catechins as a prophylactic against prostate cancer in men believed to be at higher risk, such as the elderly, African-Americans, and those with a family history of prostate cancer.

Chili, Broccoli Help Prevent Cancer - Studies - Yahoo! News

Broccoli and red chili peppers may help fight cancer by slowing the growth of cancerous tumor cells, U.S. researchers reported on Tuesday.

They may be especially helpful in hard-to-treat cancers such as pancreatic and ovarian cancer, the team at the University of Pittsburgh said.

“In our studies, we decided to look at two particular cancers — ovarian and pancreatic — with low survival rates, to ascertain the contribution of diet and nutrition to the development of these cancers,” said Sanjay Srivastava, who led the study.

“We discovered that red chili pepper and broccoli appear to be effective inhibitors of the cancer process.”

Speaking to a meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in Anaheim, California, Srivastava said he and colleagues tested capsaicin, which makes peppers hot, against pancreatic cancer cells in a lab dish.

The compound caused the cancer cells to self-destruct in a process called apoptosis, while not affecting normal pancreatic cells.

“Our results demonstrate that capsaicin is a potent anticancer agent, induces apoptosis in cancer cells and produces no significant damage to normal pancreatic cells, indicating its potential use as a novel chemotherapeutic agent for pancreatic cancer,” Srivastava said.

His team also examined phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC), a constituent of cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, on ovarian cancer cells.

PEITC interfered with a protein called epidermal growth factor receptor, which is involved in the growth of ovarian and other cancerous tumors.

The studies may help explain why people who eat large amounts of fruits and vegetables have a lower risk of cancer, Srivastava said.

Kansas City infoZine - Nutrition Notes: Is Chocolate Good for You? - USA

By Karen Collins, MS, RD, CDN - Recent research shows that chocolate can provide natural health-promoting substances called flavonoids.

HealthAmerican Institute for Cancer Research - infoZine - Since flavonoids seem to help prevent heart disease and cancer, the idea of eating chocolate sounds like a tempting and delicious way to better your health. The complete message is, however, that although chocolate might be preferable to other treats, it is no substitute for vegetables and fruits, which also contain flavonoids.

The flavonoids in chocolate that laboratory studies demonstrate to have powerful antioxidant effects are called flavanols and procyanidins. These two compounds come from the flavonoid “family” that includes resveratrol, found in grape juice, and EGCG, found in green tea. When people consume these substances in chocolate and cocoa, the antioxidant status of their blood increases. This rise in antioxidant levels helps protect us from damage to the heart and blood vessels, while it also guards our DNA from damage that can lead to cancer. In addition, the flavanols and procyanidins in chocolate improve the function and flow of blood vessels and help control inflammation.

The antioxidants in chocolate have generated a lot of interest because studies show that these compounds are more powerful antioxidants than EGCG in tea, which is a strong antioxidant. One study that compared the total antioxidant activity in single servings of cocoa, green tea, black tea and red wine scored cocoa markedly higher than the rest.

Yet the flavonoid content of cocoa and chocolate is highly variable. The more cocoa in a chocolate product, the higher the antioxidant flavonoid content is. Because dark chocolate is more concentrated in cocoa content, it is higher in flavonoids than milk chocolate. For this reason, dark chocolate is used in research studies. White chocolate has no cocoa content.

A cup of hot or cold cocoa may sound like a health drink loaded with antioxidants, but almost all cocoa drink mixes contain cocoa treated with alkali (also called Dutch cocoa) to produce a darker, richer taste. Unfortunately, this process drastically reduces flavonoid content. Unless you find a chocolate mix made with untreated cocoa, start with plain cocoa (not Dutch) and add your own sweetener and milk to make a flavonoid-rich cup.

Surprisingly, the fat content of chocolate is not a reason to avoid it. Technically, chocolate contains saturated fat, but the particular type of saturated fat - stearic acid - is unique because it does not raise blood cholesterol. Studies show that neither dark or milk chocolate is a cholesterol concern in moderate amounts. But keep in mind that other ingredients added to some chocolate candies can change their nutrition impact.

But one of the reasons you shouldn’t rely on chocolate for antioxidants, in the place of vegetables and fruits, is the calorie load. A small piece of dark chocolate has only 50 calories, but most candy bars contain at least 200. In comparison, a serving of vegetables and fruits contains a generous amount of health-promoting phytochemicals and only 25 to 80 calories. An antioxidant-rich serving of green tea has no calories at all.

Besides, vegetables and fruits have more than flavonoids. They provide vitamins, minerals like magnesium and potassium, and phytochemicals that protect our health in other ways. Some, for example, block the activation of carcinogens, while others interfere with the life cycle of cancer cells and promote their destruction.

Recent research on the flavonoids in chocolate implies that we can enjoy limited amounts of this sweet treat without guilt. But this news shouldn’t discourage us from eating a mostly plant-based diet loaded with vegetables and fruits.

Wild Blueberry Compounds May Work Against All Stages of Cancer

Thursday April 14, 9:52 am ET

PORTLAND, Maine, April 14 /PRNewswire/ — New research findings concluded that Wild Blueberry compounds have the potential to attack all stages of cancer — initiation, promotion and proliferation. (Source: Journal of Food Science, 70(3):S159-S166, 2005.) According to the study, different types of Wild Blueberry phenolic compounds are active during different stages of cancer, resulting in a broad spectrum of potential cancer-fighting benefits.

“Wild Blueberry compounds offer a multi-pronged attack against cancer,” said Dr. Mary Ann Lila, Ph.D., lead researcher from the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign. Other collaborators include John Pezzuto, Ph.D., from the School of Pharmacy, Purdue University, and Muriel Cuendet and Young-Hwa Kang from the Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy, University of Illinois at Chicago.

According to Dr. Lila, cancer begins as a result of an assault on cells by free radicals leading to oxidative stress or inflammation. “We’re investigating the potential of natural antioxidants like those found in Wild Blueberries to combat the free radical attack in the body,” said Dr. Lila. “What makes it so intriguing is that in addition to free radical scavenging, Wild Blueberries contain other natural components that are simultaneously inhibiting cancer-promoting enzymes and blocking the growth of tumor cells. How these compounds get into the body and the mechanics of how they work is the next frontier.”

According to Dr. Lila, these results build on previous work done at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, which demonstrated the positive effect of Wild Blueberry proanthocyanidins or condensed tannins on the promotion stage of cancer. (Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 52:6433-6442, 2004.)

Nature’s #1 Antioxidant Fruit(TM)

According to Susan Davis, MS, RD, Nutrition Advisor to the Wild Blueberry Association of North America, Dr. Lila’s work expands on the importance of Wild Blueberries in helping fend off diseases of aging, like cancer. “Dr. Lila’s investigation of specific phytochemicals indicates that different compounds are attacking cancer cells at different stages,” said Davis. “This underscores the complexity of whole foods and the importance of eating fruits like Wild Blueberries more regularly.”

Davis noted that recent USDA research findings using the Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) measure ranked Wild Blueberries highest in antioxidant capacity per serving, compared with more than 20 other fruits. The study showed that a one-cup serving of Wild Blueberries had more antioxidant capacity than a serving of cranberries, strawberries, raspberries, apples, and even cultivated blueberries. (Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 52:4026-4037, 2004.)

Antioxidants are important in terms of their ability to protect against oxidative cell damage that can lead to conditions like Alzheimer’s disease, cancer and heart disease — conditions also linked with chronic inflammation. The antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of blue-purple foods like Wild Blueberries may have the potential to help prevent these diseases.

WBANA

WBANA is a trade association of growers and processors of Wild Blueberries from Maine, dedicated to bringing the Wild Blueberry health story and unique Wild Advantages to consumers worldwide.

Source: Wild Blueberry Association of North America

Yahoo! News - Half of All Cancer Deaths Preventable: Report

By Maggie Fox

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than 60 percent of all cancer deaths could be prevented if Americans stopped smoking, exercised more, ate healthier food and underwent recommended cancer screenings, the American Cancer Society reported on Thursday.

Americans could realistically cut the death rate in half, the report says. This year 1.368 million Americans will learn they have cancer and 563,700 will die of it.

“The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2005, more than 168,140 cancer deaths will be caused by tobacco use alone,” the organization said in a statement.

“In addition, scientists estimate that approximately one third (190,090) of the 570,280 cancer deaths expected to occur in 2005 will be related to poor nutrition, physical inactivity, overweight, obesity and other lifestyle factors.”

That totals 358,230, or 62 percent, of all cancer deaths.

“The issue is how many could you actually pull off in reality and half doesn’t seem like a big stretch,” Dr. Michael Thun, head of epidemiology for the non-profit group, said in an interview.

“If one could eliminate tobacco use, you would eliminate about half of cancer deaths. If you could help people maintain a healthy body weight and get more physical activity, that would be another 10 percent,” he added.

“Increasing colorectal screening and high quality mammography and Pap (tests for cervical cancer) would contribute another fraction. It is very plausible that one could get a 50-percent reduction.”

For instance, breast cancer, which kills 40,000 women and men in the United States every year, can usually be easily treated if caught before it spreads. In February a team at Harvard Medical School calculated that if every woman aged between 50 and 79 got a mammogram every year, it would reduce deaths from breast cancer by 37 percent.

Colon cancer and prostate cancer, two other top cancer killers, are also easily detected early with proper screening.

KILLER TOBACCO

But the single easiest way to prevent cancer would be to stop all tobacco use, the report says.

“What we have learned from tobacco is that in addition to education, measures that make a huge difference are things like increasing excise taxes on cigarettes and the clean air laws that have been enacted to protect nonsmokers from secondhand smoke,” Thun said.

Encouraging smokers to quit and changing social norms about smoking have also helped drive the nation’s smoking rate below 25 percent, he said.

Tackling obesity will be more difficult, Thun said.

“Just from a common-sense point of view, anything which increases physical activity, makes healthy food more available, limits access (to) and marketing of unhealthy foods is likely to be a step in the right direction,” Thun said.

He also said schools need to examine ways to get sugary sodas out of vending machines and find other sources of revenue that do not threaten the health of youngsters.

Thun said the report was not meant to make cancer patients feel they caused their own disease.

“This says just the opposite. The reality is things like smoking and obesity and physical inactivity are often described as voluntary but the choices we make are made in a social context,” he said.

“In designing our communities and our lives, we inadvertently have made a lot of choices that work against health.”

Yahoo! News - Fruit, Veggies Tied to Lower Pancreatic Cancer Risk

By Amy Norton

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - New research from Canada suggests that a diet rich in fruits and vegetables may help prevent pancreatic cancer, a particularly deadly type of tumor.

The findings, based on a comparison of 585 pancreatic cancer patients and about 4,779 adults without the disease, suggest that the risk of the cancer declines as fruit and vegetable intake increases.

Among cancers, pancreatic tumors have one of the most dismal survival rates, with less than 5 percent of patients still alive 5 years after diagnosis. The poor prognosis is in large part due to the fact that the disease is rarely caught early.

Because of this, uncovering the modifiable risk factors for the disease is vital, according to Dr. Parviz Ghadirian of the University of Montreal, one of the authors of the new study.

Using data from a large study of Canadians diagnosed with cancer between 1994 and 1997, Ghadirian and his colleagues found that higher intakes of fresh fruit and cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli and cauliflower, were associated with a lower risk of pancreatic cancer.

For reasons that are unclear, the relationship was confined to men; those with the highest fruit and vegetable intakes were about half as likely to develop pancreatic cancer as those with the lowest intakes. There was no clear association between diet and pancreatic cancer risk among women.

The findings, published in the International Journal of Cancer, add to a growing body of evidence on the role of diet in pancreatic cancer risk. Some research has tied higher consumption of fruits, vegetables and fiber to a lower risk of the disease, while other studies have suggested that diets heavy in saturated fat, salted meats or dairy products may raise the risk.

In the current study all of the subjects filled out questionnaires on their lifestyle habits, which included reporting how often they’d eaten various foods over the previous two years.

In a separate newly published study of the same group, Ghadirian and his colleagues found that the antioxidant lycopene, specifically, appeared protective against pancreatic cancer — again, only men.

Lycopene, obtained mainly through tomatoes and tomato products, belongs to a family of plant compounds called carotenoids, some of which are converted in the body to the antioxidant vitamin A.

In the current study, adults with high intakes of fruits and vegetables tended to favor fresh fruits like apples, oranges and cantaloupe, and cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower. These foods, Ghadirian and his colleagues note, are key sources of carotenoids and vitamin C. another antioxidant that has been tied to lower pancreatic cancer risk.

It’s thought that antioxidants may help ward off cancer by mopping up oxygen free radicals — molecules that, though a natural byproduct of metabolism, can result in potentially disease-causing damage to cells over time.

With its often rapidly fatal course, the only way to address pancreatic cancer right now is through prevention, Ghadirian and his colleagues note in their report.

Not smoking is one way to do that, Ghadirian said, and following a diet rich in fiber, fruits and vegetables may be another.

SOURCE: International Journal of Cancer, May 1, 2005.