Flaxseeds vs. Prostate Cancer

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What happens when men with prostate cancer and prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN) are placed on a relatively low-fat diet, supplemented with ground flax seeds?

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Below is an approximation of this video’s audio content. To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video.

Why is there such a huge disparity in prostate cancer rates? The incidence of clinically malignant prostate cancer is highest in African-Americans—some 30-fold greater than in Japanese men, and 120 times greater than seen in Chinese men in Shanghai.

Well, in general, the Western diet is one in which animal protein and fat consumption is high, whereas the fiber intake is low. In contrast, the proportion of the total caloric intake from animal fat in the more vegetarian-style Oriental diet is low, and the fiber content is higher.

So, maybe diet is playing a role in some of these diseases. But, these healthier diets are not just low in animal proteins and fat, and high in starch and fiber—they are also rich in weak plant estrogens. 

This study, for example, found higher levels of phytoestrogens in the prostate fluids of men in countries with relatively low rates of prostate cancer. In vitro studies have shown lignans can slow the growth of prostate cancer cells in a petri dish. So, a pilot study was launched on flaxseed supplementation in men, with prostate cancer, before surgery.

Why flax seeds? Because, while these anti-cancer lignans are found throughout the plant kingdom, flax seeds have up to 800 times more than any other food.  So, they took a bunch of men with prostate cancer, about a month before they were scheduled for surgery to get their prostates removed, and started them on a relatively low-fat diet, with three tablespoons of ground flax seed, to see what effect that might have on the growth of their tumors.

And, though they were skeptical that they would observe any difference in tumor biology in the diet-treated patients with such a short-term dietary intervention, just within those few weeks, they found significantly lower cancer proliferation rates, and significantly higher rates of cancer cell death. Now, this was compared to so-called historical controls, meaning compared to the kind of cancer growth one typically sees in their situation—not to an actual, randomized, control group.

But, a few years later, a study was finally published in which men could act as their own controls. These were men that just got their prostates biopsied, and were scheduled to get a repeat biopsy in six months’ time.

So, they did the same thing. After the first biopsy, they reduced the fat in their diet, and put them on ground flax seeds to see if it made their repeat biopsy look any different. These were men with what’s called PIN, which is like the prostate equivalent of ductal carcinoma in situ in the breast—an early stage of cancer. That’s why they were getting repeat biopsies, to make sure it wasn’t spreading.

And, this is what they found. Significant drop in PSA levels (which is a biomarker of prostate cell growth); a drop in cholesterol (which is what we’d expect with a lower-fat diet, and all that extra fiber); and, importantly, a significant decrease in the cellular proliferation rate. In fact, in two of the men, their PSA levels dropped so much, they didn’t even have to go through with the second biopsy at all.

There hasn’t been much research on this kind of precancerous prostatic hyperplasia, with only four epidemiological studies reported at the time. They yielded varying findings, with increased risk associated with higher energy, protein, and animal product intake, and decreased risk related to the consumption of alcohol, fruit, and green and yellow vegetables—in sum, a low-fat, plant-based diet, high in phytoestrogens.

Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.

Images thanks to National Cancer Institute

Below is an approximation of this video’s audio content. To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video.

Why is there such a huge disparity in prostate cancer rates? The incidence of clinically malignant prostate cancer is highest in African-Americans—some 30-fold greater than in Japanese men, and 120 times greater than seen in Chinese men in Shanghai.

Well, in general, the Western diet is one in which animal protein and fat consumption is high, whereas the fiber intake is low. In contrast, the proportion of the total caloric intake from animal fat in the more vegetarian-style Oriental diet is low, and the fiber content is higher.

So, maybe diet is playing a role in some of these diseases. But, these healthier diets are not just low in animal proteins and fat, and high in starch and fiber—they are also rich in weak plant estrogens. 

This study, for example, found higher levels of phytoestrogens in the prostate fluids of men in countries with relatively low rates of prostate cancer. In vitro studies have shown lignans can slow the growth of prostate cancer cells in a petri dish. So, a pilot study was launched on flaxseed supplementation in men, with prostate cancer, before surgery.

Why flax seeds? Because, while these anti-cancer lignans are found throughout the plant kingdom, flax seeds have up to 800 times more than any other food.  So, they took a bunch of men with prostate cancer, about a month before they were scheduled for surgery to get their prostates removed, and started them on a relatively low-fat diet, with three tablespoons of ground flax seed, to see what effect that might have on the growth of their tumors.

And, though they were skeptical that they would observe any difference in tumor biology in the diet-treated patients with such a short-term dietary intervention, just within those few weeks, they found significantly lower cancer proliferation rates, and significantly higher rates of cancer cell death. Now, this was compared to so-called historical controls, meaning compared to the kind of cancer growth one typically sees in their situation—not to an actual, randomized, control group.

But, a few years later, a study was finally published in which men could act as their own controls. These were men that just got their prostates biopsied, and were scheduled to get a repeat biopsy in six months’ time.

So, they did the same thing. After the first biopsy, they reduced the fat in their diet, and put them on ground flax seeds to see if it made their repeat biopsy look any different. These were men with what’s called PIN, which is like the prostate equivalent of ductal carcinoma in situ in the breast—an early stage of cancer. That’s why they were getting repeat biopsies, to make sure it wasn’t spreading.

And, this is what they found. Significant drop in PSA levels (which is a biomarker of prostate cell growth); a drop in cholesterol (which is what we’d expect with a lower-fat diet, and all that extra fiber); and, importantly, a significant decrease in the cellular proliferation rate. In fact, in two of the men, their PSA levels dropped so much, they didn’t even have to go through with the second biopsy at all.

There hasn’t been much research on this kind of precancerous prostatic hyperplasia, with only four epidemiological studies reported at the time. They yielded varying findings, with increased risk associated with higher energy, protein, and animal product intake, and decreased risk related to the consumption of alcohol, fruit, and green and yellow vegetables—in sum, a low-fat, plant-based diet, high in phytoestrogens.

Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.

Images thanks to National Cancer Institute

Doctor's Note

Slowing the Growth of Cancer is good, but how about Cancer Reversal Through Diet? In other words, if one plant could do that, what about a whole diet chock full of plants? See my video series that goes from Ex Vivo Cancer Proliferation Bioassay (by actually Engineering a Cure) to The Answer to the Pritikin Puzzle. And, for benign prostate gland enlargement, see Prostate vs. Plants, and Prostate vs. a Plant-Based Diet. And, for background, also see Some Prostates Are Larger than Others.

What about for breast cancer? See Breast Cancer Survival and Lignan Intake. More on these wonderful seeds in Flax and Fecal Flora. See how I use them in my smoothies (A Better Breakfast), and, my oldie but goodie, Just the Flax, Ma’am.

Since the dietary intervention involved both flax seed consumption and reducing fat intake, how do we know flax had anything to do with it? That’s the subject of my next video: Was It the Flaxseeds, Fat Restriction, or both?

For additional context, check out my blog posts: Flaxseeds for Prostate Cancer; Treating Sensitive Skin From the Inside Out; and Flax and Breast Cancer Survival.

See all of my newest flax videos here. 

 

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