High fat diet may abet prostate cancer progression

By Joene Hendry

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Diets high in saturated fat may increase the risk of prostate cancer progression, researchers from the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston report.

In a follow up study of men who had their cancerous prostates removed, researchers found that men who consumed higher amounts of saturated fat -- mostly from steaks, burgers, cheese, ice cream, salad dressings, and mayonnaise -- were nearly two times more likely to experience disease progression after surgery than men with lower saturated fat intake.

"Diet before surgery, especially saturated fat, may modulate patient outcome after surgery," Dr. Sara S. Strom, who was involved in the study, told Reuters Health.

Strom and colleagues also found significantly shorter "disease-free" survival times among obese men who ate high amounts of saturated fat compared with non-obese men consuming diets low in saturated fat.

These results expand upon the team's previous finding linking obesity with prostate cancer progression "and suggest that saturated fat intake plays a role in prostate cancer progression," the researchers note in the International Journal of Cancer.

Strom's group used standard food questionnaires to assess the saturated fat intake of 390 men during the year before surgery for localized, or "organ-confined" prostate cancer. The researchers also assessed the men's medical and family history for other risk factors for disease progression.

The men, all Caucasian, were about 60 years old on average and consumed between 600 and 5,000 calories daily. Overall, 293 men averaged 10 percent of their daily energy from saturated fat (low intake) while 97 men averaged 14 percent (high intake).

Obese men with a high saturated fat intake had the shortest survival time free of prostate cancer (19 months), while non-obese men with low intake survived the longest time free of the disease (46 months).

Non-obese men with high intake and obese men with low intake had "disease-free" survival of 29 and 42 months, respectively, the researchers report.

Additional investigations looking at associations between post-surgery dietary changes and disease progression would be worthwhile, Strom suggests.

SOURCE: International Journal of Cancer, June 1, 2008