Hello, I’m a 69-year-old retired carpenter and published writer. I’ve never had a Free PSA reading, only two biopsies and 5 Finger-Waves (and two of those almost made me jump through the wall).

My diet is centered around ocean fish (tuna and salmon), veggies (a lot of brocolli and other cruciferous veggies — cauliflower, Brussel sprouts), fruits (in particular apricots, which are high in selenium), vitamins (E, A, D3, a good one-a-day vitamin), Essiac Tea at five in the A.M. (when my stomach is empty), heavy sprinkling of turmeric on my food (in Ayurvedic medicine of India this herb has been in usage for almost 2 millenia — it shrinks tumors), cayenne (for the capsicum), garlic powder (both sprinkled over food, like the turmeric).

Consuming grapefruit appears to increase risk of breast cancer in post-menopausal women, according to a study in British Journal of Cancer (July, 2007) (Prospective study of grapefruit intake and risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women: the Multiethnic Cohort Study)

One quarter grapefruit per day compared to none increased risk by about one third. The significance of this slightly increased risk is underscored by 2 factors — women are taught lifelong to associate grapefruit intake with health and with weight-control (the “Grapefruit diet”).

The factor involved in the increased risk is a chemical in grapefruit (CYP3A4) that blocks the body’s breakdown of estrogen.

Since vitamin C and other antioxidants found in grapefruit are readily available from other fruits, with this new information women can choose to switch to oranges, tangerines, lemon juice, and other fruits and avoid grapefruit.

Swedish researchers report “an inverse association between moderate alcohol intake and risk of renal cell cancer. Consumption of red wine, white wine, and strong beer was associated with a lower risk. ”

But, they add, “there were no clear associations with light and medium beer, strong wine, or hard liquor, perhaps due to chance or differences in other risk factors related to specific types of alcoholic drink. For example, the large variation in other risk factors such as smoking and occupation could explain why hard liquor was not associated with renal cell cancer risk although we controlled for known risk factors.”

The study appears in July issue of British Journal of Cancer. Other recent studies have found that red wine intake reduces risk of prostate cancer in men.

Drinking one or more cups of coffee per day has been found to lower the risk of death from liver cancer in a study in Japan including men and women with hepatitis C and a history of smoking and alcohol use.

Lately, claims of health benefits from consumption of Asian green tea have brought about a virtual revolution in the tea aisles of US supermarkets. Wal-Mart sells numerous brands of green tea plus white and red teas and various flavors of black tea.

So it is interesting to see that in Japan recent studies have suggested a lower risk of liver cancer in coffee-drinkers.

Unless these studies are tied in with some public relations conspiracy to prepare the Japanese population for coffee-house chains (seriously, no evidence of that) they may have a message for Westerners: don’t throw out the coffee pot when you add green tea to your day.

We have some recipes for canned pink wild Alaskan salmon for people who, like many of us, live on limited budgets. Hughie Kearnley, a chef who is fighting prostate cancer, shares his recipes for wild Alaskan salmon both canned and fresh.

January 16, 2007 Tomatoes and broccoli — two vegetables known for their cancer-fighting qualities — are better at shrinking prostate tumors when both are part of the daily diet than when they’re eaten alone, according to a new study from University of Illinois and University of Ohio.

“When tomatoes and broccoli are eaten together, we see an additive effect,” said University of Illinois food science and human nutrition professor John Erdman. “We think it’s because different bioactive compounds in each food work on different anti-cancer pathways.”

Flax is a contentious issue among prostate cancer researchers. Dr. Dean Ornish on WebMed cites Dr. Charles “Snuffy” Myers’ view of flaxseed oil as virtual fuel for prostate cancer tumors. Recommending omega-3 fatty acids in fish, Ornish notes some “disturbing research published by Dr. Charles ‘Snuffy’ Myers at the University of Virginia Medical School in Charlottesville. He has evidence indicating that flax seed oil may promote the growth of prostate tumors. In someone with prostate cancer, I would avoid flax seed oil and instead take 2-3 grams per day of fish oil.”

Yet Wendy Demark-Wahnefried, Ph.D., a researcher in Duke’s School of Nursing, continues to turn up evidence that flaxseed — not flax oil — inhibits growth of prostate cancer.

Researchers exploring the notion that certain nutrients might
protect against pancreatic cancer found that lean individuals who got
most of these nutrients from food were protected against developing
cancer. The study also suggests this protective effect does not hold true
if the nutrients come from vitamin supplements.

Eating foods like broccoli and soy has been linked to lower cancer rates, and California researchers say that they may have discovered what underlies this protective effect. Using cells in a lab dish, a team led by Erin Hsu, a graduate student in molecular toxicology at the University of California, Los Angeles has found that genistein, an isoflavone in soy, and diindolymethane (DIM), a compound made in the gut when broccoli is digested, reduce the production of two proteins needed for cancers to spread.

Salmon is a super-food even compared to other oily fish like mackerel and herring. According to a study that breaks new ground, salmon’s omega-3 fatty acids are especially protective against prostate cancer for men who have one specific, common variation in a single gene.

Maria Hedelin PH.D.

Maria Hedelin, a scientist at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden has found evidence that the protective effect of salmon and marine fatty acids apply with extra potency to men with a genetic variation in the COX-2 gene, which is a gene that helps regulate the body’s production of inflammatory chemicals called prostaglandins.

High intake of marine fatty acids and oily fish, especially salmon, Hedelin’s study found, “is strongly associated” with decreased relative risk of prostate cancer.

Not all fish are as beneficial. This study found that “high intake of lean fish and shellfish is associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer.”