Vegetable fats slow cancer growth in mice

[Guest guest]

Vegetable fats slow cancer growth in mice

Reuters HealthPosting Date: December 3, 2001

Last Updated: 2001-12-03 15:11:37 EST (Reuters Health)

WESTPORT, CT (Reuters Health) - Phytosterols may slow the growth of prostate cancer cells, the results of animal studies suggest. Prostate cancer is less common among Asian males compared with men in Western nations, which suggests diet may play a role in the disease, according to Dr. Atif B. Awad and colleagues at the State University of New York at Buffalo. One of the chief dietary differences between these groups is that Asian men consume a higher amount of phytosterols, while the Western diet is heavy in cholesterol. Phytosterols are found in unrefined vegetable oils, nuts and legumes. To look at the relationship between dietary fats and prostate cancer, the researchers fed one group of mice a diet high in phytosterols and another group a cholesterol-rich diet. Both groups of mice had been inoculated with human prostate cancer cells. After 8 weeks, prostate cancer tumors in mice fed the phytosterol-rich diet were 40% to 43% smaller than those in animals fed the cholesterol diet, the investigators found. In a separate experiment, the scientists examined the effects of two types of phytosterols on prostate cancer cells in vitro. When added to cell cultures, these chemicals--beta-sitosterol and campesterol--were shown to inhibit prostate cancer cell growth by 70% and 14%, respectively. In contrast, when cholesterol was added to the cell cultures, cancer cell growth increased up to 18%, according to the researchers. The findings of the study, which was funded by the Peanut Institute, appears in the December issue of the European Journal of Cancer Prevention. "These studies demonstrated for the first time that [plant] chemicals that exist naturally in our diet can protect against prostate cancer by inhibiting the growth of the human tumor and its spread in the host's tissues, both in animals and the laboratory," Dr. Awad said in a university statement. Eur J Cancer Prev 2001 December. -Westport Newsroom 203 319 2700

http://www.oncolink.com/templates/resources/article.cfm?c=3 & s=8 & ss=23 & Year=2001 & Month=12 & id=7809