A daily eight-ounce glass of pomegranate juice may help put the brakes on prostate cancer, according to a new study involving 50 patients.
July 2, 2006 (Press Release) --
A daily eight-ounce glass of pomegranate juice may help put the brakes on prostate cancer, according to a new study involving 50 patients.
Studies in mice had already suggested that the juice, which is rich in antioxidants, might help slow the disease. For this study, researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles gave the beverage to 50 men who had undergone treatment for prostate cancer, but had shown signs of relapse.
The investigators intermittently measured the patients' blood levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA), a common indicator of the presence of prostate cancer cells.
Reporting in Clinical Cancer Research, the researchers say it took 54 months for a doubling of PSA levels in men who drank the juice -- a much slower progression than the average 15-month doubling time usually seen in these patients. Some of the men continued to show PSA suppression for more than 3 years, despite receiving no treatment other than the juice.
"I was surprised when I saw such an improvement in PSA numbers," lead researcher Dr. Allan Pawtuck told the BBC. He said pomegranate juice "may be able to prevent or delay the need for other therapies usually used in this population, such as hormone treatment or chemotherapy."
The UCLA team aren't sure which ingredients in the juice help slow cancer progression, The juice is known to have anti-inflammatory compounds, cancer cell-killing isoflavones, plus antioxidants.
Source: http://www.msn.com/
Studies in mice had already suggested that the juice, which is rich in antioxidants, might help slow the disease. For this study, researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles gave the beverage to 50 men who had undergone treatment for prostate cancer, but had shown signs of relapse.
The investigators intermittently measured the patients' blood levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA), a common indicator of the presence of prostate cancer cells.
Reporting in Clinical Cancer Research, the researchers say it took 54 months for a doubling of PSA levels in men who drank the juice -- a much slower progression than the average 15-month doubling time usually seen in these patients. Some of the men continued to show PSA suppression for more than 3 years, despite receiving no treatment other than the juice.
"I was surprised when I saw such an improvement in PSA numbers," lead researcher Dr. Allan Pawtuck told the BBC. He said pomegranate juice "may be able to prevent or delay the need for other therapies usually used in this population, such as hormone treatment or chemotherapy."
The UCLA team aren't sure which ingredients in the juice help slow cancer progression, The juice is known to have anti-inflammatory compounds, cancer cell-killing isoflavones, plus antioxidants.
Source: http://www.msn.com/
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