THURSDAY, Feb. 16, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Following a healthy plant-based weight-reduction plan after a diagnosis of prostate cancer may help prevent the disease from progressing or recurring, a brand new study suggests.

Men who ate a weight-reduction plan wealthy in fruits, vegetables and whole grains had a 52% lower risk of cancer progressing and a 53% lower risk of reoccurrence, compared with men who had the bottom amounts of plants of their weight-reduction plan, the researchers found.

“Progressing to advanced disease is one among many pivotal concerns amongst patients with prostate cancer, their family and caregivers and their physicians,” said lead researcher Vivian Liu, a clinical research coordinator on the Osher Center for Integrative Health on the University of California, San Francisco.

“These findings may directly inform clinical care by providing weight-reduction plan recommendations as guidance for managing their health and reducing morbidity for essentially the most common cancer facing U.S. men, along with having other positive health advantages for stopping other chronic diseases,” Liu said.

A plant-based weight-reduction plan could have these advantages because vegetables and fruit contain antioxidants and anti inflammatory components, in addition to dietary fiber that improve glucose control and reduce inflammation, she explained.

Also, this weight-reduction plan reduces potentially harmful exposures to animal-based foods, similar to hormones and heterocyclic amines created during high-temperature cooking, which have been linked to prostate cancer specifically, Liu said.

Diets high in animal protein may additionally increase insulin resistance, while milk and dairy may increase levels of the expansion factor IGF1, which has been related to prostate cancer risk, she noted.

For the study, Liu and her colleagues used data from a study that collected information on greater than 2,000 men with prostate cancer.

Over a median of seven years, the researchers found that men who reported diets that included the best amounts of plants had a lower risk of each progression and reoccurrence, compared with men who ate the bottom amounts of plants. This association didn’t vary by age, walking pace or the severity of cancer.

“Post-diagnostic healthful plant-based diets, including vegetables, fruits, legumes and whole grains, could also be related to a discount in risk of prostate cancer progression and reoccurrence, adding to a listing of other quite a few health advantages including a discount in diabetes, heart problems and overall mortality,” Liu said.

The findings are to be presented Thursday on the 2023 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Genitourinary Cancers Symposium, in San Francisco. Findings presented at medical meetings are considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Dr. Anthony D’Amico, chief of the Division of Genitourinary Radiation Oncology on the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, cautioned that although the findings are promising, they’ll’t prove that a plant-based weight-reduction plan caused prostate cancer outcomes to enhance, only that there’s an association between the 2.

Having said that, he added that there’s biological evidence that plant-based diets are healthier and may boost the immune system.

“So, there’s a biological rationale for it with the ability to slow the danger of progression of any cancer because of this of immune surveillance,” D’Amico said. “The opposite side is individuals who eat a plant-based weight-reduction plan also are inclined to exercise, which has been shown to spice up the immune system.”

A healthy lifestyle also lowers the danger of cancer reoccurrence and progression because patients can tolerate treatments higher, usually tend to get the complete treatment and usually tend to be compliant, D’Amico said.

“I don’t wish to challenge these findings completely. I don’t wish to poo-poo it. It’s not a nasty thing to do. I just don’t want people to think that it’s proof,” D’Amico said. “I might recommend that folks take all the picture into consideration, that’s, they exercise, they don’t smoke, they don’t drink, they eat healthy, they reduce stress — those things all may help.”

More information

The American Cancer Society has more on prostate cancer.

SOURCES: Vivian Liu, clinical research coordinator, Osher Center for Integrative Health, University of California, San Francisco; Anthony D’Amico, MD, PhD, chief, Division of Genitourinary Radiation Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston; 2023 American Society of Clinical Oncology Genitourinary Cancers Symposium, San Francisco, Feb. 16-18, 2023