What You Need To Know About Diet And Prostate Cancer
10 anti-cancer nutrition tips for men
In many ways, prostate cancer is to men what breast cancer is to women. It’s the second leading cause of cancer deaths in men . And the older men get, the higher the frequency of the disease.
Health experts estimate that nearly three out of every 10 men in their 50s have prostate cancer, compared with about seven out of 10 men 80 or older. This may seem like good news for younger men — prostate cancer develops slowly, and is uncommon before age 50. But the fact that it does develop slowly behooves younger men to do whatever they can to help prevent it. And the fact that prostate cancer often doesn’t have noticeable symptoms behooves men 50 and up to get annual checkups and testing.
September is Prostate Cancer Month, so this is a great time to take a few minutes to learn more about this cancer and the dietary steps we can take to reduce our risk.
Reduce Or Avoid Foods That Harm The Prostate
You may be surprised at how many common foods irritate the prostate and can contribute to a rise in PSA levels and an enlarged prostate. Here are some of the foods and beverages that fall into this category:
- Foods that contain acrylamide, such as French fries and potato chips and doughnuts
- And these 8 worst foods for prostrate health.
How Is Prostate Cancer Treated
With early treatment, most men will be cured of prostate cancer. However, seeking expert treatment is imperative to recovery.
- Active surveillance is considered for men with slow-growing cancer confined to the prostate, without symptoms and includes regular PSA screening and digital rectal exam. For many men with Gleason Grade group 1 prostate cancer, active surveillance is appropriate and no immediate treatment is needed.
- Surgery Surgery involves removing the prostate and any other cancerous tissue. Most commonly this is done using a robot and is considered a surgery. There are many options for how surgery can be performed, and it is important to seek care from a high-volume surgeon to ensure all options are considered.
- Proton therapy
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Ejaculation Is A Potential Cause Of Mildly Elevated Psa
“Ejaculation can cause a mild elevation of your PSA level, and so can having a digital rectal exam,” says Milner. “These types of PSA elevations are usually not enough to make a significant difference unless your PSA is borderline. PSA should return to normal in two to three days.”
To avoid this type of elevation, doctors will usually draw blood for a person’s PSA level before doing a rectal exam. Ask your doctor if you should avoid ejaculation for a few days before a PSA test.
A Serious Risk For Many Men Especially African Americans
The American Cancer Society says that about 1 in 9 men can expect to be diagnosed with prostate cancer. And itis the most commonly diagnosed cancer in Black men about 1 in 7 will get it in their lifetimes.
About 6 cases in 10 are diagnosed in men who are 65 or older, and the average age at diagnosis is 66, which is exactly how old Roker is.
Although prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in American men after lung cancer, the ACS points out that most men diagnosed with prostate cancer do not die from it.
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Total Psa And Free Psa Levels
There are no normal levels of total PSA or free PSA for men of any age. Different doctors may use different cutoff points to decide if you need a biopsy or other further testing.
A PSA test measures nanograms of PSA per milliliter of blood. But if you have no symptoms, the usual guidelines for total PSA levels are:
- Safe. Zero to 2.0 ng/mL. Your chance of prostate cancer is very low. Checking your free PSA level may be unneeded.
- Safe for most. Below 4.0 ng/mL. Safe for most. About 15% of the men in this level have prostate cancer. A free PSA check may help your doctor or urologist decide if you might need a needle biopsy.
- Borderline. Between 4 ng/mL and 10 ng/mL. About 25% of men in this group likely have cancer. Your doctor likely will order a free PSA test.
- Dangerous. Above 10.0 ng/mL. The odds are better than 1 in 2 that you have prostate cancer. Your doctor likely will recommend a biopsy.
If your total PSA levels are in the borderline area between 4-10 ng/mL, your free PSA ratio can give you a more detailed picture of your cancer risk.
The chances that a needle biopsy will turn up prostate cancer varies by your free PSA concentration and your age:
Concentration of more than 25%: About 1 in 10 men ages 50 to 59 will have cancer. For those 70 and older, itâs 16%.
Concentration of 25%-19%: Cancer risk ranges from 18% to 30% for men 50 and older.
Concentration of less than 10%: Cancer risk is about 50% if youâre 50 to 59 years old for those 70 and older, itâs 65%.
How Fusion Guided Biopsy Works
First, a patient will have a prostate MRI. The MRI will image the prostate and any abnormalities in much greater detail than the ultrasound used for traditional biopsies. This allows the radiologist to better distinguish between abnormal and regular tissue.
Next, the patient will have an ultrasound-guided biopsy. A special machine attaches to the ultrasound probe and overlays the MRI image onto the ultrasound image. So when the doctor moves the ultrasound probe, the detailed MRI image moves with it in real time.
The doctor then biopsies the prostate with fine needles, using the MRI image to guide the needles directly to the areas with tumors or abnormal tissue. Because the MRI images are so detailed, doctors can more precisely target exactly where they need to biopsy. This means that far fewer clinically significant tumors are missed. This strategy also helps reduce the number of biopsies a patient might need by giving the doctor better information the first time.
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Medical Procedures Can Cause Psa To Rise
“Anything that traumatically interferes with the architecture around the prostate gland can make PSA go up,” says Dr. Milner. “One of the most common causes of significantly high PSA from this type of trauma is the placing of a catheter into the bladder.”
Another cause is a prostate or bladder exam that involves passing a scope or taking a biopsy.
“Since it takes about two to three days for PSA to go down by half, you should wait two to three weeks after this type of trauma to do a PSA test,” Milner says.
Psa And Prostate Cancer: What Do My Numbers Mean
The prostateis a walnut-sized gland that sits below the bladder in men. It is responsible for creating semen, the milky liquid that carries sperm out of the body when a man ejaculates.
A PSA test is a blood test used to screen for prostate cancers. PSA is a protein produced in the prostate by both cancerous and noncancerous tissue. Elevated PSA levels can indicate the presence of cancer, but high PSA levels can also be a result of non-cancerous conditions like benign prostatic hyperplasia , or an infection. PSA levels also rise naturally as you age.
Elevated PSA levels do not necessarily mean that you have prostate cancer. PSA tests arent always accurate: many men who have prostate cancer have normal PSA levels. Alternatively, some men have high PSAs but dont have cancer. Or they have a slow growing form of cancer that would never have had symptoms or caused them any harm.
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Ways To Prevent Recurrence
When it comes to cancer recurrence, there are no guarantees. But there are things you can do to lower your risk and improve your overall health.
If you smoke, quit now. According to the Prostate Cancer Foundation, men who have a prostatectomy for localized prostate cancer and continue to smoke are twice as likely to have a recurrence. Men who quit smoking have a risk similar to those who never smoked. Smoking is also a risk factor for prostate cancer death.
Managing your weight may also help. Obesity is associated with more aggressive disease and death from prostate cancer. Whether you only have a few pounds or many pounds to lose, slow and steady weight loss can start today.
Even if your current weight is in a healthy zone, eating right can help keep you there. Here are a few tips to get started:
- Avoid or minimize saturated fats. They may
Worried About Your Psa Levels
If you have high PSA levels and want to learn how to naturally lower your PSA, book a free health consultation to speak with one of our expert advisors. This fifteen-minute consult gives you the opportunity to ask questions and receive tailored advice to your concerns.
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Following Psa Levels During And After Prostate Cancer Treatment
A mans prostate-specific antigen blood level is often a good indicator of how effective treatment is or has been. Generally speaking, your PSA level should get very low after treatment. But PSA results arent always reliable, and sometimes doctors arent sure what they mean.
Before starting treatment, you might want to ask your doctor what your PSA level is expected to be during and after treatment, and what levels might cause concern. Its important to know that the PSA level is only one part of the overall picture. Other factors can also play a role in determining if cancer is still there, if it is growing, or if it has come back.
Its also important to know that PSA levels can sometimes fluctuate a bit on their own, even during or after treatment, so they may not always be a sign of what is actually happening with your cancer. Understandably, many men being treated for prostate cancer are very concerned about even very small changes in their PSA levels. The PSA level is an important tool to monitor the cancer, but not every rise in PSA means that the cancer is growing and requires treatment right away. To help limit unnecessary anxiety, be sure you understand what change in your PSA level might concern your doctor.
Psa Testing For Detection Of Prostate Cancer
The introduction of prostate-specific antigen testing into clinical practice has greatly increased the detection of localized prostate cancer and, by doing so, has decreased the diagnosis of regional and metastatic disease. PSA testing has had such a profound clinical effect that questions have arisen regarding the significance of the cancers that are being detected.
Stage, grade, tumor volume, and PSA testing are used to determine whether a prostate cancer is clinically significant or insignificant. However, there is no generally accepted precise definition for this distinction.
The goal of early detection of prostate cancer is to identify clinically significant cancers at a time when treatment is most likely to be effective. The risk of death from prostate cancer is significant in those with moderate- to high-grade tumors. This is especially true in younger men. Long-term survival is compromised when the cancer has spread beyond the confines of the prostate, into the regional lymph nodes, and to distant sites.
Several studies have shown that with a PSA cutoff of 4.0 ng/mL, clinically insignificant cancers are detected in fewer than 20% of men, but nearly 50% of all the cancers detected because of an elevated PSA level are localized, and these patients are candidates for potentially curative therapy. Only a small proportion of prostate cancers detected by PSA testing and treated with radical prostatectomy are low-volume and low-grade tumors.
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How Are Researchers Trying To Improve The Psa Test
Scientists are investigating ways to improve the PSA test to give doctors the ability to better distinguish cancerous from benign conditions and slow-growing cancers from fast-growing, potentially lethal cancers. And other potential biomarkers of prostate cancer are being investigated. None of these tests has been proven to decrease the risk of death from prostate cancer. Some of the methods being studied include
Selected References
Thompson IM, Pauler DK, Goodman PJ, et al. Prevalence of prostate cancer among men with a prostate-specific antigen level < or =4.0 ng per milliliter. New England Journal of Medicine 2004 350:22392246.
Serum Insulinlike Growth Factor
Insulinlike growth factor -1, its binding protein , and its receptor have been implicated in the development of prostate cancer. PSA cleaves IGF-1 from its binding protein, allowing this potent growth factor to act on prostate epithelial cells.
Plasma concentrations of IGF-1 have been associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer. In the Physiciansâ Health Study, 152 cases of prostate cancer were matched with 152 controls from the population of 14,916 physicians. Serum samples assayed for IGF-1 at the outset of the study found a positive association with the subsequent development of prostate cancer. Men in the highest quartile for IGF-1 had a relative risk of 2.4 as compared with men in the lowest quartile.
The predominant IGF-1 binding protein, IGFBP-3, has growth-inhibiting properties that diminish the effect of IGF-1. After correcting for IGFBP-3 levels, the risk of developing prostate cancer was 4.5 times greater for the highest quartile than for the lowest quartile.
The clinical usefulness of this assay has yet to be demonstrated, because alternative explanations for these findings may exist. Prostate size and a large overlap in actual values limit the utility of the test but do provide additional information regarding the biology of prostate cancer.
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Prostate Cancer Treatment Options: What Are They
Prostate cancer is, most often, a slow-growing cancer.
For some men, prostate cancer causes no symptoms or long-term issues, so treatment isn’t necessary.
In these cases, doctors may recommend active surveillance. That is, they’ll keep an eye on the development of the tumor using various tools and tests, including:
- Digital rectal exams
- Transrectal ultrasounds
- Prostate biopsies
Men who require treatment for their condition are most often treated with surgery, radiation therapy, hormone therapy, or a combination of these modalities.
Follow The Prostate Diet
Men who want to help keep PSA levels low, support overall prostate health, and fight inflammation are encouraged to follow The Prostate Diet. The diet has 10 foundations which, if you follow them consistently, should reward you with a healthy prostate and overall health as well. Post them where you can refer to them until they become a habit.
- Eat lots of fruits and vegetables, organic whenever possible
- Consume healthy fats monounsaturated, omega-3 fatty acids
- Choose plant protein over animal protein
- Drink green tea often
- Choose whole, natural foods over refined, processed foods
- Include foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids
- Avoid or significantly limit certain foods and supplements
- Choose prostate cancer-killing foods and supplements, such as tomatoes, green tea, and vitamin D
- Stay well hydrated with pure water
- Consider taking natural supplements that support prostate health
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What Causes An Elevated Psa Level
Prostate cancer is the main cause of an elevated PSA level. But PSA levels increase with age and can reflect different prostate conditions. Other factors that may raise a persons PSA level include:
- Prostate enlargement and inflammation .
- Urinary tract infection.
- Urinary catheter placement.
Your healthcare provider will also consider whether your medications affect PSA levels. For example, 5-alpha reductase blockers treat enlarged prostates and will lower PSA levels.
Natural Ways To Lower Psa Levels
If youre at risk for prostate cancer, or if your PSA levels are high, its very important to try to lower your PSA levels as much as possible. Fortunately, there are several natural ways to do that while also living a healthier life.
1. Stay leanCancer is more common in overweight and obese people. In fact, a recent study found a correlation between obesity and the risk of getting prostate cancer.
Why is there a connection? Obesity can impact the prostate and lead to things like altered sex hormones, inflammation of the prostate, and higher insulin levels. These issues can facilitate the growth of prostate cancer.
Obesity not only comes with an increased risk of prostate cancer, it can also increases the aggressiveness of prostate cancer. According to the Harvard Medical School, obese men were 2.2 times more likely to develop aggressive prostate cancer than lean men were each 22 pounds of excess weight boosted risk by 40%.
2. Exercise regularlyWe all know the value of exercise, but did you know that working out can help protect you from prostate cancer?
A study from the Harvard School of Public Health shows that men who engaged in long-term vigorous exercise had a 30% lower risk of developing advanced prostate cancer and 25% lower risk of developing lethal prostate cancer than those who did not.
But which exercise is best? A range of exercises qualified as vigorous under the study, including: swimming, working outside, general spots, and cycling
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