foodconsumer.org: Pomegranate juice slows tumor growth in post-treatment prostate cancer patients

Pomegranate juice slows tumor growth in post-treatment prostate cancer patients
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admin on 04/28/2009 03:17:00
 
Monday April 27, 2009 (foodconsumer.org) -- Pomegranate juice may be an
effective way of slowing the progress of prostate cancer, a new study indicates.
The American Urological Association has been conducting a long-term study on the
juice’s efficacy, finding that patients who daily drink 8 ounces of
pomegranate juice after being treated for localized prostate cancer are less
likely to see the disease spread.
The study was arranged as a clinical trial that looked at 48 participants over a
period of six years. In order to participate, patients must have had a PSA
between 0.2 and 5 ng/ml and a Gleason score of 7 or less, according to a press
release. PSA refers to the Prostate-Specific Antigen test which is designed to
screen for the level of Prostate-Specific Antigen, a tumor marker, in the blood.
The Gleason score refers to the visible characteristics of a tumor when examined
under microscope (the visual appearance is rated on a numeric scale).
Once accepted into the study, participants were asked to drink 8 oz of
pomegranate juice daily. Researchers stated that “active patients who remain
on the study have a median follow-up of 56 months.” During this period, it was
found that the participants experienced a notable increase in “PSA doubling
time.” PSA doubling time refers to the time it takes for the PSA marker to
double in the patients’ blood stream. The study reports they found an increase
from “a mean of 15.4 months at baseline to 60 months post-treatment, with a
median PSA slope decrease of 60 percent, 0.06 to 0.024. This was a significant
improvement over patients who did not stay on the study.”
WebMD reports that “five of the six researchers who conducted the study
disclose ties to POM Wonderful, which makes the pomegranate juice used in the
study.” They further report that a group of researchers in 2007 found that
pomegranate juice slowed the growth of tumors in lab mice.
The American Cancer Society reports that prostate cancer is the most common form
of the disease found in men, and the second most deadly (behind lung cancer).
According to their website, one man in 6 will get prostate cancer during his
lifetime; one man in 35 will die from it. The death rate of the disease is
dropping, however, due to better methods of detection and treatment.
(By Will Levine, and edited by Heather Kelley)