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Broccoli puts the brakes on prostate cancer
Men who regularly tuck into broccoli could significantly reduce their chances of getting cancer of the prostate, say scientists at the UK’s Institute of Food Research
Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer in men in the UK and nearly 35,000 new cases are diagnosed every year. Eating one or more portions of broccoli every week may also help to prevent any existing cancer from spreading, according to the study, published in the journal PloS ONE.
Researchers asked 22 ‘high risk’ men aged between 57 and 70 to include either 400g of broccoli or 400g of peas in their weekly diet for 12 months. All the men already had pre-cancerous cells in their prostates - walnut-sized glands which surround the urethra and produce the fluid in semen.
Samples of tissue were taken from the prostate gland at the start, six months in and at the end of the trial. The samples were analysed using a cutting edge technology called Affymetrix microarray which allows scientists to examine the activity of thousands of genes.
The team found that men who were on the broccoli-rich diet showed gene activity changes that were likely to stop or slow the development of prostate cancer.
This effect was particularly marked in those men who carried the GSTM1 gene – which is present in about 50 percent of the population. The researchers suggest that men without the gene would have to eat more broccoli to get the same health benefits.
Previous studies have found that cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and cabbage can help protect against prostate cancer but this is the first time that scientists have provided an explanation of how broccoli might reduce cancer risk based on human trials.
The Norwich-based team are currently planning larger scale trials.
'Other fruits and vegetables have been shown to also reduce the risk of prostate cancer and are likely to act through other mechanisms,’ said lead author Professor Richard Mithen. 'Once we understand these, we can provide much better dietary advice.
'Until then, eating two or three portions of cruciferous vegetable per week, and maybe a few more if you lack the GSTM1 gene, should be encouraged.’
However Dr Jodie Moffat, health information officer at Cancer Research UK cautioned against reading too much into the results, ‘Our understanding of how diet may affect cancer risk is rapidly growing but it is still very incomplete,’ says Moffat.
‘Broccoli has had a lot of research focused on it due to some of the chemicals in the vegetable. While this is important research, it was only based on a small number of men and the effect wasn't seen in all of them.
‘So, our best advice is to eat a healthy balanced diet that is high in all types of fruit and vegetables.’
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