Western diet pattern associated with higher mortality in prostate cancer patients

Source: Cancer Prevention Research

Prostate cancer is the most diagnosed and second most lethal cancer for men in the United States.

Research on dietary patterns demonstrates a need to account for the role of nutrition in prostate cancer progression. A recent study compared the eating patterns of nonmetastatic (cancer that has not spread) prostate cancer patients, grouping participants into a “Prudent” diet group and “Western” diet group. The Prudent diet was characterized by higher intake of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, fish, oil and vinegar while the Western diet was characterized by higher intake of processed meats, high-fat dairy products and refined grains among other products.

After adjusting for many confounding factors, the study found that the Prudent diet pattern was associated with lower prostate cancer-specific mortality whereas the Western diet pattern was associated with a higher risk of overall mortality and prostate cancer-specific mortality. These associations appear to be linked to the higher intake of oil and vinegar in the Prudent diet and the intake of processed meats in the Western pattern of eating.

These findings provide important clinical and public health applications and are in line with the growing research on the implications of dietary choices in prostate cancer disease progression.