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<< Prostrate Supplements
Saw palmetto is an herb that has been shown in clinical studies to
have an important role in maintaining a healthy prostate. Saw
palmetto grows naturally in the southeast United States, including
Georgia, Mississippi, and particularly Florida. Saw palmetto is not
the only herb that has an influence on the prostate gland. Several
other herbs and plant compounds that are potentially useful in
maintaining a healthy prostate gland including pygeum, stinging
nettle, isoflavones such as genistein and daidzein, phytosterols
such as beta sitosterol, and carotenoids such as lycopene.
Prostate and Breast Cancer
protection from Lignans' is in the news.
New Research Suggests The lignan
metabolite enterolactone may prevent the spread of prostate cancer
by acting at the genetic level, suggests new research that deepens
our understanding of the topic.
An in vitro study, led by Mark McCann from AgResearch Grasslands in
New Zealand, reports that enterolactone beneficially regulated
several key genes, producing important effects on programmed cell
death of prostate cancer cells.
McCann, in collaboration with researchers from the University of
Ulster, Belfast City Hospital, Cork Institute of Technology, and the
University of Reading, reports the data in the journal Molecular
Nutrition & Food Research.
Plant lignans come from sources such as
flax seed, whole grain cereals, berries, vegetables and fruits.
Several hundred individual lignans have been discovered but the main
research has focussed on lignans from flaxseed (Linum usitatissimum),
with a small but growing number of studies on lignans from Norwegian
spruce bark (Picea abies).
When these lignans are metabolised by microflora in the human gut
they form the mammalian lignan enterolactone (ENL), amongst other
things. For the new study, McCann and co-workers tested the effects
of ENL on the LNCaP human prostate cancer cell line.
Using a concentration that was not considered toxic to the cells
(non-cytotoxic) the researchers found that the density of the
prostate tumour was reduced by 57.5 per cent, the metabolic activity
of the tumour cells by 55 per cent, and cut secretion of prostate
specific antigen (PSA) by 48.5 per cent. PSA is a marker commonly
used to screen for prostate cancer and for tracking the disease
after its diagnosis.
Moreover, in mammalian lignan was found to induce apoptosis, or
programmed cell death, of the cancer cells 8.33-fold compared to
cancer cells not exposed to the lignan.
Beneficial regulation of key genes, including MCMs and CDKs, which
play key roles in cell and DNA replication, was also noted by the
researchers.
"The data suggest that the anti-proliferative activity of ENL is a
consequence of altered expression of cell cycle associated genes and
provides novel molecular evidence for the anti-proliferative
properties of a pure lignan in prostate cancer," concluded the
researchers.
Over half a million news cases of prostate cancer are diagnosed
every year world wide, and the cancer is the direct cause of over
200,000 deaths. More worryingly, the incidence of the disease is
increasing with a rise of 1.7 per cent over 15 years.
Benefits for Women. Lignans are
well-known phytoestrogens - active substances derived from plants
that have a weak oestrogen-like action, and have been linked before
to breast health, as well as offering benefits for postmenopausal
women.
Last year, French researchers reported that a high intake of lignans
from the diet could reduce the risk of breast cancer by almost 30
per cent. Results of this prospective study were published in the
Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Source: Molecular Nutrition & Food Research 8 April 2008, doi:
10.1002/mnfr.200700052
"Enterolactone restricts the proliferation of the LNCaP human
prostate cancer cell line in vitro" Authors: M.J. McCann, C.I.R.
Gill, T. Linton, D. Berrar, H. McGlynn, I.R. Rowland
Lignans' prostate cancer protection gets study boost by Stephen
Daniells13-May-2008
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Phytochemicals, plant extracts Cancer risk reduction - Daily
consumption of flaxseed may stop the growth of prostate cancer
tumors, according to research presented in June 2007.
Flaxseed, which is rich in omega 3-fatty acids and fibre-related
compounds known as lignans, may interrupt the chain of events that
cause cells to divide irregularly and become cancerous, suggest
researchers from the Duke University Medical Center in the United
States.
"Our previous studies in animals and humans had shown a correlation
between flaxseed supplementation and slowed tumour growth, but the
participants in those studies had taken flaxseed in conjunction with
a low-fat diet," said Wendy Demark-Wahnefried, a researcher in
Duke's School of Nursing and lead investigator on the study.
"For this study, we demonstrated that it is flaxseed that primarily
offers the protective benefit," she confirmed.
The study involved men scheduled to undergo surgery for the
treatment of prostate cancer. The researchers gave them 30 grams of
flaxseed every day for an average of 30 days.
When the men's tumors were removed, the researchers were able to
determine how quickly the cancer cells had multiplied.
The men taking flaxseed, either alone or in conjunction with a
low-fat diet, were compared to men following just a low-fat diet,
and men in a control group, who did not alter or supplement their
daily diet. Each group was made up of about 40 participants.
Men in both of the flaxseed groups had the slowest rate of tumor
growth, according to the researchers.
The study was presented at the annual meeting of the American
Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago.
Lgnans may have antiangiogenic properties, meaning they are able to
choke off a tumor's blood supply and stop it spreading, added the
researchers.
Participants took the flaxseed in a ground form to make it more
digestible and mixed it in drinks or sprinkled it on food such as
yogurt.
The researchers now hope to test the effectiveness of flaxseed
supplementation in patients with recurrent prostate cancer.
Over half a million news cases of prostate cancer are diagnosed
every year worldwide, and the cancer is the direct cause of over
200,000 deaths. Most worryingly, the incidence of the disease is
increasing with a rise of 1.7 per cent over 15 years.
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