Prostate Cancer Risk May Be Lower in Fish Eaters

by Jody A. Charnow | Renal and Urology News | 12.04.2008

Eating fish may be protective against prostate cancer, while heavy meat consumption may increase the risk of the malignancy, data show.

The finding is based on a study of 917 men (mean age 64.5 years) undergoing a prostate biopsy. Before receiving biopsy results, the men filled out a self-administered food-frequency questionnaire. The investigators, Moamen Amin, MD, and colleagues at McGill University in Montreal, classified men according to their quintile of intake of various dietary groups.

Prostate cancer was detected in 386 men (42%). Men in the highest quintile of fish consumption had a 46% reduced risk of prostate cancer compared with men in the lowest quintile, after adjusting for age, ethnicity, and other potential confounders, researchers reported in the Canadian Urological Association Journal (2008;2:510-515). Men in the highest quintile of meat consumption (red meat, ham, sausages) had a nearly threefold increased risk compared with men in the lowest quintile. Dairy products were not associated with prostate cancer risk. No dietary group was associated with prostate cancer aggressiveness.

“These observations add to the growing body of evidence suggesting a relationship between diet and prostate cancer risk,” the authors concluded.

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