September 9, 2005                                                                 

Moores UCSD Cancer Center Launches
Dietary Study for Prostate Cancer Patients

Recent research indicates that what we eat may reduce the risk and course of prostate cancer. Building upon those earlier studies, researchers at the Moores UCSD Cancer Center are conducting a clinical trial of the impact of a vegetable-rich diet on prostate cancer.

“There is good evidence that diet plays an important role in health, but many studies have focused on dietary supplements or single nutrients,” said the project director Vicky Newman, M.S., R.D. “We are taking a whole-diet approach in this study, which we believe may carry additional benefit.” Newman is associate clinical professor of Family and Preventive Medicine, and director of nutrition services in the Cancer Center's Cancer Prevention and Control Program.

The Men's Eating and Living (MEAL) study is designed not only to help prevent cancer recurrence, but also to prevent cancer progression in men with low-risk disease who elect to forgo treatment but remain under a physician's care, also known as watchful waiting or active surveillance.

To be eligible for the MEAL study, men must be 50 to 80 years of age who have been diagnosed with prostate cancer and have completed initial cancer therapy, or are being followed by active surveillance. Also, participants cannot have any medical condition that would prevent adopting a high-fiber diet.

Participants in this 12-month study will be assigned by chance to either an intensive diet group with telephone counseling and support, or a diet group that will receive nutrition information by mail.

“While this study is open to all eligible men, African-American men are strongly encouraged to consider participating as they have a higher risk of developing prostate cancer than Caucasian men,” said Tracy M. Downs, M.D., the study's clinical director and member of the Moores UCSD Cancer Center. “Moreover, African-American men appear to get more severe forms of the disease.” Downs is also assistant professor of urology at the UCSD School of Medicine and staff physician at both UCSD Medical Center and the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System.

For further information on the MEAL Study, sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, please call Leslie Barbier at 858-822-2895 or 1-800-820-9435, extension 22895; or email lbarbier@ucsd.edu.