Pomegranate Juice Benefits Prostate Cancer Survivors
Reported April 27, 2009
(Ivanhoe Newswire) — Pomegranate juice, a drink that’s been touted as a super-food capable of doing everything from preventing heart disease to lowering cholesterol, may also offer a huge benefit to a new group of patients — prostate cancer survivors.
The juice may slow the progression of post-treatment prostate cancer recurrence, according to a new long-term study.
Nearly 50 men who had undergone treatment for localized prostate cancer were followed for six years. The participants had a rising PSA after surgery or radiotherapy, a PSA greater than 0.2 ng/ml and less than five ng/ml and a Gleason score of seven or less. They were advised to drink eight ounces of pomegranate juice a day.
The men who remained in the study experienced a significant increase in PSA doubling time following treatment, from a mean of 15.4 months to 60 months, researchers said.
“This study suggests that pomegranate juice may effectively slow the progression of prostate cancer after unsuccessful treatment,” Christopher Amling, M.D., a spokesman for the American Urological Association was quoted as saying.
He said this and future studies may prove that pomegranate juice prevents prostate cancer, too, but additional research is still needed to determine why some patients seem to respond better to the juice than others.
SOURCE: Study presented at the 104th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Urological Association