foodconsumer.org: Not all types of fat have the same effect on prostate cancer risk

Not all types of fat have the same effect on prostate cancer risk
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admin on 03/06/2010 23:12:00
 
A western diet has been linked to the increased risk of prostate cancer, but it
is not well understood how it affects the risk.  A recent study seems to suggest
that not all types of dietary fat have the same effect on prostate cancer risk.
The study, led by Lloyd J.C. and colleagues from a number of medical
organizations including Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Duke Prostate
Center in Durham North Carolina, found the western diet did not raise prostate
cancer risk in castrated mice when compared to a low fat diet.
The researchers did not seem interested in demonstrating how the western diet
raises the risk of prostate cancer.  Rather, it seemed they wanted to prove that
the type of fat matters more than the amount of fat a man uses in terms of its
impact on prostate cancer risk.
In their study, Lloyd et al. fed 80 male SCID mice xenografted with LAPC-4 cells
either a western diet with 40% fat and 44 % carbohydrates or a low fat diet with
12 % fat and 72% carbohydrates. After the tumor grew to 1,000 mm(3), the mice
were sacrificed and a series of tests were performed to see how the diets affect
the mice.
They found weight, survival prostate specific antigen, insulin-like growth
factor axis parameters were not different between the two groups.
There was one catch: the fat used in the diets was a saturated fat.  The
researchers say in their study report published in the Feb 19, 2010 issue of
Journal of Urology that previous studies which linked low fat diet to low risk
of prostate cancer used corn oil which is full of omega 6 fatty acids that are
known to promote cancer growth.
From the study results, the researchers suggest that the type of fat matters
more than the amount of the fat consumed.
A health observer commented on the study saying that the study found Western
diet did not raise the prostate cancer in castrated mice.  But in realty, it is
almost impossible for a man to use a single type of fat for his diet.
Also, the study does not really indicate that the fat affects cancer risk
through a hormone-mediated mechanism because the saturated fat used in the
current study was tested in one previous study and the researchers found it did
not promote prostate cancer in non-castrated mice either.
Corn oil promotes prostate cancer risk, according to the background information
in the current study report.  So it seems that certain types of fat may be safe
to use while others may increase risk for developing prostate cancer.
Prostate cancer is diagnosed in more than 180,000 men each year in the United
States and the disease kills about 35,000 men annually in the country.
By Jimmy Downs and editing by Denise Reynolds