20 supplements that men with prostate cancer need to know about (part two)

By Dr. Ronald Hoffman

There's a revolution going on in prostate cancer prevention and treatment. As I explained in Part 1 of this series, diet, exercise, stress management and targeted nutraceuticals may not just help prevent prostate cancer, they may even, under some circumstances, slow or halt the progression of established prostate cancer.

Active Holistic Surveillance, formerly called "Watchful Waiting," emphasizes natural interventions to obviate the need for surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy with their attendant risks and side effects. In Part One, I listed 10 supplements with documented benefits in prostate cancer. Here are 10 more:

1) Zyflamend (InflammX): My good colleague, integrative urologist Dr. Aaron Katz, performed research on this supplement and found that it retarded the progression of PIN (prostate intraepithelial neoplasm), a precancerous condition. Zyflamend combines the anti-inflammatory nutrients rosemary, turmeric, ginger, Holy Basil, green tea, resveratrol, berberine, oregano, and skullcap.

2) Pomegranate: Men who had undergone surgery or radiation for prostate cancer who drank 8 ounces of pomegranate juice per day had PSA doubling times that were about four times longer than their PSA doubling times at the study's start, and longer than men who consumed no pomegranate juice. Pomegranate juice consumption also figured prominently in Dean Ornish's recent study demonstrating slowing of prostate cancer progression with comprehensive lifestyle interventions.

3) DIM: Diindolylmethane (DIM) is a potent extract of cruciferous vegetables. It has long been recognized that DIM has anti-androgen effects on prostate cancer cells.

4) SGS (Broccomax): Sulforaphane glucosinolate (SGS) is another compound derived from cruciferous vegetables. Dr. Paul Talalay and associates at Johns Hopkins Medical School isolated the compound and developed SGS-rich BroccoSprouts with anti-cancer effects. It is also available in capsule form (Broccomax). SGS has even been proposed as an agent capable of blocking prostate cancer metastases.

5) Vitamin C: In its regular oral supplement form, vitamin C has not been shown to be particularly potent against prostate cancer. But intravenous vitamin C, in my experience, has great potential for slowing progression and prolonging survival even in patients with advanced prostate cancer. I?ve written about IV vitamin C for cancer here.

6) Aged Garlic Extract (Kyolic): Consumption of Allium family vegetables, principally garlic, onions, leeks, scallions, and chives, has been associated with protection against cancer. In vitro studies of Aged Garlic Extract (AGE) on prostate cancer cell lines shows significant inhibition. An additional documented benefit of AGE is that it enhances natural killer cell activity, a primary component of immune surveillance against cancer.

7) Lycopene: A carotenoid found primarily in tomatoes, but also in watermelon, lycopene has been found to inhibit prostate cancer. While tomato product consumption has been conclusively demonstrated to protect against prostate cancer, it is less clear whether use of lycopene supplements has a similar impact. For maximum bio-availability, it is desirable to consume lycopene with a fat, as when tomato sauce is cooked with olive oil.

8) Boswellin: Another powerful anti-inflammatory nutraceutical derived from the plant used to make frankincense, Boswellin is a likely candidate for inclusion in an anti-prostate cancer regimen.

9) Fish Oil: Although a recent study made headlines claiming that fish oil was associated with a higher risk of advanced prostate cancer, it was thoroughly debunked. Actually, there's good reason to believe that fish oil could prevent prostate cancer via its anti-inflammatory effects; in cases of established prostate cancer, it is believed that higher levels of Omega 3 could reduce the likelihood of metastases.

10) AHCC (Immpower): A potent formulation of mushroom-derived polysaccharides, AHCC is employed extensively in Japanese oncology as an adjunct to conventional therapy. It supports immune system resistance to cancer via enhancement of natural killer cell activity.

I hope you find these recommendations useful, and once again I urge you to forward this newsletter to anyone you know who may be helped by the information.