Low-Fat Diet Feasible For Prostate
Cancer Patients
December 22, 2004
By Anne Harding
After being diagnosed with prostate cancer, men are
capable of adhering to a low-fat diet for up to 1 year
if they receive appropriate counseling and support,
a new study shows.
There is evidence that dietary fat plays a role in
the development and course of the prostate cancer, Dr.
L.H. Lumey of Columbia University Medical Center in
New York and colleagues note, but some clinicians have
been skeptical about the feasibility of a low-fat diet
for prostate cancer patients.
"It was important for us to establish if this
indeed was such a complicated matter," Dr. Lumey
told Reuters Health.
To investigate, Dr. Lumey and colleagues randomized
48 men with prostate cancer to a diet containing 15%
fat or less, with or without vitamin E and selenium
supplements; supplements only; or to a control group.
All of the men received nutritional counseling at baseline,
but the men on the low-fat diet and their spouses received
more intensive intervention, with biweekly visits with
a nutritionist for the first 4 months of the study,
followed by monthly group sessions.
After 3 months, men in the low-fat diet group had cut
their calorie intake from fat by 8.6% and lost an average
of 2 kg, while men in the control group had increased
their fat intake by 2.1% and lost 0.8 kg.
One year after the trial began, men on the low-fat
diet had lost 2.8 kg and maintained a 9.8% lower fat
intake, while those on the normal diet had gained 0.5
kg and were eating 1.6% less fat.
A diagnosis of prostate cancer appears to be a strong
motivation for lifestyle change, the researchers note.
"These results open the possibility of planning
for larger studies to assess the effect of a low-fat
dietary intervention on quality of life, disease progression,
and survival in men with prostate cancer," they
conclude.
Dr. Lumey said he was struck by the commitment to making
dietary changes among patients in the study. "People
are very involved -- this whole diet thing in prostate
cancer patients, it's like a subculture in a way, it
generates tremendous involvement and energy," he
said. "There's a need to find out what's going
on because it's not just an academic issue. Patients
talk about this all the time."
Source:www.cancerpage.com
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