SIMILARITY BETWEEN PROSTATE AND BREAST CANCERS

Report #6582 8/13/95

If they live long enough, all men will get prostate cancer and one in eight women will get breast cancer. The most recent research shows a remarkable similarity between the causes of both cancers.

The woman whose body produces the most female hormone, estrogen, is most likely to get breast cancer. The man whose body produces the most estrogen, is the one most likely to get prostate cancer.(1) The amount of the male hormones, testosterone and dihydrotestosterone, produced by a man's body has little to do with causing prostate cancer. (1)

A high fat, low-vegetable diet is associated with an increased risk for prostate and breast cancer, and a low-fat diet that is rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and beans is associated with protection against these conditions. (2) A study in the British journal, Lancet, shows plant sterols help to shrink an enlarged prostate at least as much as Proscar does, and when given to humans, plant sterols can block some of the effects of the female hormone, estrogen.(3)

Doctors recommend that all men over the age of 45 be screened for prostate cancer by getting a blood test for Prostate Specific Antigen or PSA. Recent research shows that all women should also get PSA levels. Scientists have discovered that normal breast tissue also produces PSA and significant amounts of PSA are found in breast milk. Those who have high levels are less likely to get breast cancer and those with breast cancer with high levels after surgery are most likely to survive. (4)

Dr. Gabe Mirkin on Fitness.

1. Scandinavian Journal of Urology and Nephrology. 1995(March);29(1):65-68.
2. Whitmore AS et al. Journal of the National Cancer Institute 1995;87:654-661.
3. Berges RR et al. Randomized, placebo-controlled double blind clinical trial of B-sitosterol in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia. Lancet 1995(June 17);345:1529-1532.
4. Diamandis EP, Yu H. New Biological Functions of Prostate-Specific Antigen. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. 1995;80(5):1515-1517.

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