Red
Wine Cuts Risk For Aggressive Prostate Cancer
Drinking a glass of
red wine a day may cut a man's risk of prostate cancer in half,
and the protective effect appears to be strongest against the
most aggressive forms of the disease, according to a new study
reported in The International Journal of Cancer.
"We found that men
who consumed four or more glasses of red wine per week reduced
their risk of prostate cancer by 50 percent," says Dr. Janet
L. Stanford and colleagues at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research
Center.
"Among men who consumed
four or more four-ounce glasses of red wine per week, we saw
about a 60 percent lower incidence of the more aggressive types
of prostate cancer," says Dr. Stanford, senior author of the
study. "The more clinically aggressive prostate cancer is where
the strongest reduction in risk was observed."
Red
Wine Stands Out Over White
Dr. Stanford found
no significant effects - positive nor negative - associated
with the consumption of beer or hard liquor and no consistent
risk reduction with white wine, which suggests that there must
be a beneficial compound in red wine that other types of alcohol
lack.
That compound, Dr.
Stanford believes, may be an antioxidant called resveratrol,
which is abundant in the skins of red grapes but much less so
in the skins of white grapes.
The compound is also
found in peanuts and raspberries and is available as a dietary
supplement, which has been suggested to protect against cardiovascular
disease.
Lab studies indicate
that resveratrol influences a variety of biological pathways
that are important in cancer development.
As an antioxidant,
it helps sweep dangerous, cancer-causing free radicals from
the body. As a potent anti-inflammatory agent, it blocks certain
enzymes that promote tumor development.
The compound also
reduces cell proliferation, curtailing the number of cell divisions
that could lead to cancer or the continued growth of cancer
cells.
It also enhances apoptosis,
or programmed cell death, which helps rid the body of cancerous
cells. It may act as an estrogen, reducing levels of circulating
male hormones such as testosterone that fuel the growth of prostate
cancer.
While the researchers
found that the risk of prostate cancer decreased 6 percent for
every glass of red wine consumed per week, Dr. Stanford is quick
to point out that research shows the law of diminishing returns
comes into play when consumption increases beyond moderation.
"From a public-health
standpoint, it's difficult to recommend any alcohol consumption
given the risks associated with heavy consumption, from increased
overall cancer risk to accidental injury and social problems,"
she notes.
"But for men who already
are consuming alcohol, I think the results of this study suggest
that modest consumption of red wine - four to eight 4-ounce
drinks per week - is the level at which you might receive
benefit," Dr. Stanford explains. "Clearly other studies show
that more than that may have adverse effects on health."
Thorough
Study Covers Many Qualities
For the study, the
researchers interviewed 753 newly diagnosed Seattle-area prostate-cancer
patients as well as 703 healthy controls who served as a comparison
group.
Detailed information
about tumor aggressiveness (such as tumor grade and disease
stage) was obtained through the National Cancer Institute's
Seattle-Puget Sound Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results
cancer registry.
"Even though this
study is based on relatively small numbers, the results are
very intriguing and suggest that the potential beneficial effect
of red wine and resveratrol would be very important, because
it's the more aggressive forms of prostate cancer that are most
important to prevent," she comments.
A particular strength
of the study, Dr. Stanford says, is that the participants were
relatively young, ranging in age from 40 to 64, and the majority
were under 60.
"By focusing on men
under age 65, whose incidence of prostate cancer is much lower
than that of older men, we can tease out the effect of a particular
environmental exposure on cancer risk, such as wine consumption,
more easily than if we were looking at men across the entire
age range," she says.
This is particularly
true when studying complex diseases such as prostate cancer
in which numerous genetic and environmental factors are thought
to play a role over an individual's lifetime.
Another strength of
the study is that in addition to being surveyed about lifetime
alcohol consumption, participants were asked about a variety
of other risk factors for prostate cancer, such as diet, family
history of cancer, screening for prostate cancer, and tobacco
use, all of which were taken into account and adjusted for when
analyzing the data.
While the majority
of studies to date have assessed the effects of overall alcohol
use on prostate-cancer risk, fewer studies have attempted to
compare the effects of wine versus beer versus hard liquor,
and only one previous study has compared the impact of red versus
white wine on prostate-cancer risk, says Dr. Stanford.
"One of the reasons
we wanted to do this study is because overall, most of the scientific
literature - around 17 studies to date - haven't shown
a consistent relationship between alcohol consumption and prostate
cancer," Dr. Stanford says.
"Some have shown an
increase, some a decrease, and most no association whatsoever,"
she remarks. "Part of the problem, we believe, is that
few of the studies have attempted to sort out the effects of
different types of alcohol intake over a man's lifetime."
Always consult your
physician for more information. |
November 2004
Red
Wine Cuts Risk For Aggressive Prostate Cancer
Red
Wine Stands Out Over White
Thorough
Study Covers Many Qualities
Online
Resources
African-American
Men and Prostate Cancer Screening
African-American men
in the US are more likely than Caucasian men to be diagnosed
with advanced prostate cancer and have a two-fold greater risk
of dying from it.
However, they
are significantly less likely to be screened for prostate cancer,
according to a study in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
In a study involving
more than 67,000 men age 65 years and older, the researchers
found that blacks were 35 percent less likely than whites to
undergo prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing.
"The level of racial
disparity in the use of PSA screening is quite unsettling,"
says Dr. Timothy Gilligan, a genitourinary oncologist at Dana-Farber
Cancer Institute and the article's lead author.
"While some physicians
question the effectiveness of PSA as a screening test, there
is no reason its availability should differ according to a man's
race," Dr. Gilligan says. "Indeed, because blacks are at
higher risk of dying from prostate cancer, they stand to benefit
the most from screening."
Prostate cancer is
the second leading cause of cancer death in men in the US.
The American
Cancer Society estimates that nearly 30,000 men will
die from the disease this year and that 230,000 cases of prostate
cancer will be diagnosed.
While the prostate
cancer mortality rate for African Americans has declined
a little during the past decade, it is still more than double
the rate for other races and ethnicities. Prostate cancer also
tends to be detected in African Americans at a younger
age and at a more advanced stage than in Caucasians.
The researchers' findings
were derived from claims 67,245 New Jersey residents filed with
Medicare, Medicaid, and the New Jersey Pharmaceutical Assistance
to the Aged and Disabled program from 1991 through 1996.
Men who were previously
diagnosed with prostate cancer were excluded from the study.
To overcome the limitations of previous studies that looked
at racial disparities, the researchers accounted for differences
in age, socioeconomic status, use of health care services, and
presence of other diseases and medical conditions - factors
that are known to impact the use of primary and preventive care
services.
While the study established
there is a racial disparity in prostate cancer screening use,
it did not identify its causes or its impact.
The researchers note
that potential contributing factors could include racial differences
in access to care and education levels, patient preferences,
and care provider recommendations.
Always consult your
physician for more information.
Online
Resources
(Our Organization
is not responsible for the content of Internet sites.)
American
Cancer Society
American
Prostate Society
American
Urological Society
Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Healthfinder,
US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
National
Cancer Institute Prostate Cancer Information
National
Institutes of Health (NIH)
NIH
4Women.Gov on Men's Health
National
Library of Medicine
National
Prostate Cancer Coalition
Prostate
Cancer Foundation |
