CANCER

Lycopene Helps Prevent Prostate Cancer

Lycopene is an antioxidant carotene that is responsible for the red color of tomatoes, one of the primary food sources in people’s diets. Unlike beta carotene, lycopene does not potentially convert to vitamin A. Various studies have indicated that lycopene is associated with less occurrences of prostate cancer. Several new studies pinpoint precise mechanisms that explain why lycopene is a helpful nutrient for men who wish to reduce their risk for prostate cancer.

Almost two decades ago researchers showed that lycopene had potent anti-cancer properties, reducing insulin-like growth factors that are common driving forces in male and female hormone related cancers.

In 2002 researchers from Harvard Medical School evaluated the lycopene intake of 47,365 men over a 10-year period, looking at the relationship of lycopene intake and the risk for developing prostate cancer.  They found a 16 percent risk reduction for tomato consumption in general and a 24 percent risk reduction for tomato sauce consumption, as lycopene is liberated from vegetable fiber in cooked tomato products. Several years later researchers at Harvard School of Public Healthidentified that higher blood levels of lycopene were associated with a 53 percent risk reduction for prostate cancer in men aged 65 and older.

One small human study showed that 30 mg of lycopene supplementation per day for 30 days, prior to prostate cancer surgery, shrank the growth of prostate cancer and reduced their prostate specific antigen (PSA) by 18 percent.  Another study in men with prostate cancer showed that 30 mg of lycopene per day prevented their PSA from rising further, leading researchers to conclude that lycopene “may delay progression of both hormone-refractory and hormone-sensitive prostate cancer.”

Another study involved men with benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH), an inflammatory state of the prostate that is a risk factor for developing prostate cancer. PSA levels rise in response to BPH and lower as the inflammation declines. Study participants took 15 mg of lycopene per day for six months. Results showed that lycopene reduced PSA and prevented an increase in the size of the prostate, indicating the progression of BPH had been inhibited, therefore reducing the risk that BPH would progress to prostate cancer.  Another study showed that lycopene, in both BPH patients and prostate cancer patients, increased the death rate of abnormal prostate cells.

No human data suggests that lycopene is a one-shot remedy for the prevention or treatment of prostate cancer. However, it is pretty clear that higher lycopene intake is associated with better prostate health and less risk for prostate cancer. This means that lycopene, in conjunction with other protective nutrients, a healthy diet, and a health promoting lifestyle, is one thing a man can do to help reduce the risk for serious prostate problems.

What has been lacking in all of these studies is a clear molecular explanation on how lycopene helps the prostate. And that gets us to the two new studies by Taiwanese researchers. These studies explain the first precise biological mechanism by which lycopene inhibits prostate cancer, in both androgen-dependent and androgen-independent prostate cancer.

They have discovered that lycopene turns up the activity of two gene signals, PPARγ and LXRα, which directly inhibit the growth of prostate cancer.  I should point out that both of these gene signals are dysregulated by obesity, especially when blood sugar levels are rising (insulin resistance and/or type 2 diabetes).  This means that the benefits of lycopene for prostate health will be synergistic with healthy weight loss and/or regulation of blood sugar, if either issue is a problem.  This data also helps explain why aggressive prostate cancer is associated with obesity.

Furthermore, lycopene lowers the cholesterol level in prostate cancer cells, something it does not do in healthy cells.  While most people think of cholesterol in the LDL and HDL frame of reference, every cell in your body has cholesterol in its cell membrane that provides structural stability and survival, including cancer cells.  By reducing the cholesterol content of cancer cells they become weaker and unable to reproduce at a robust pace.

Prostate cancer is now a common problem in America, expected to deteriorate the health of 1/3 of all men during the course of their life. Natural strategies, such as regular consumption of lycopene, offer a beneficial route men can use to reduce their risk as well as support medical treatment should they have a problem.