> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.foodconsumer.org/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Beef, spam and sausage boost prostate cancer risk - URL: https://www.foodconsumer.org/prostate_cancer_0107121141/ - Published: 2012-01-07T12:40:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-22T15:44:25.000Z - Description: The piece cautions that one Illinois man's recovery after proton therapy proves nothing, since many prostate cancers progress slowly and patients often survive untreated. It notes screening is not advised past age 70, because aggressive follow-up can do more harm, including loss of sexual function. - Author: Food Consumer - Tags: Food, Nutrition, Prostate Cancer, Meat, #vivvo-import By David Liu, PHD and editing by Stacey Sexton Saturday Jan 7, 2012 (foodconsumer.org) -- If you are an avid reader, you may notice that some media outlets are promoting proton-therapy to treat prostate cancer. A 61-year old man in Rockford IL reportedly survived after he was diagnosed after a test called prostate-specific antigen or PSA test suggested he suffered prostate cancer and treated with the proton-therapy, a radiation therapy that is highly targeted at the tumor. His survival was attributed to early diagnosis and treatment with the pronton therapy. Readers need to know that one individual case does not tell you anything. We know some people with prostate cancer survive without receiving any treatment. Note that survival means a patient lives five years after diagnosis. Prostate cancer in many cases is extremely non-digressive. Even if you don't get any treatment, you likely will survive. That is why, many patients with prostate cancer are advised to watch the progress of the tumor instead of treating it aggressively, which can do more harm than good, particularly to those elderly people. Readers need to know that it is not advised that people older than 70 years go receive prostate cancer screening. Men in this age group are more likely to die from other conditions than prostate cancer. Screening can lead to further aggressive or invasive diagnosis and treatments. One lethal side effect of prostate cancer treatment is that the patients lose their sexual function. However, some prostate cancers can be aggressive and lethal. In the United States, about 200,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year. The disease and its complications kill about 40,000 annually. Prostate cancer, like breast cancer, is in many cases preventable. There are many things men can do to avoid the disease, such as not consuming certain types of meat. Recent doctoral research led by Amit Joshi, PH.D. of University of Southern California found that eating beef, spam and sausage may increase risk of prostate cancer. The results were derived from some case-control study and did not prove that eating meat is the cause for the increased risk of the disease. However, the possibility that eating these meats elevates the risk cannot be excluded. Toxicological evidence shows that it is likely certain meats are at least responsible partially for the increased risk. Dr. Joshi reported in his dissertation that the potentially bad substances in cooked meats include heterocyclic amines (HCAs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Bad chemicals in processed meat like sausage, hot dogs and spam include nitrite and nitrate, which can lead to formation of cancer-causing agents called N-nitroso compounds. The research says, "The findings of our studies point towards at least a partial role for meat cooking related exposures in the risk of cancers, and have potential implications both in understanding the mechanisms of meat related carcinogenesis and in the public health goal of cancer prevention." The bottom line is, don't wait to be diagnosed with prostate cancer. Do whatever you can to reduce the risk. [/dennis\_hopper\_losing\_cancer\_battle\_1001100457/](https://www.foodconsumer.org/dennis%5Fhopper%5Flosing%5Fcancer%5Fbattle%5F1001100457/)