Prostate cancer is a very common disease among males in the United State. If



skin cancer is excluded, prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer

among men living in the United States. Prostate cancer may have much

variation in the stage and extend of disease at presentation and in many

people the cancer might linger for a long period of time without causing any

significant problems to the person. Because of this reason, number of men

who would die from prostate cancer is much smaller than the number of men

who would be diagnosed with prostate cancer.

There are several factors that might increase the risk of developing

prostate cancer and by modifying some of these factors it might be possible

to decrease the risk of this disease in some people. Also some attempts at

modification of the external environment may also reduce the risk of

developing prostate cancer.

Chemoprevention: The term chemoprevention is generally referred to the use

of synthetic drugs, vitamins, or other agents to prevent the development of

a cancer. Several drugs have shown potential benefits as prostate cancer

prevention agents. These drugs are still in early stages of clinical trials

and much more studies are required to authoritative state that these drugs

indeed prevent the development of prostate cancer. Some of the drugs which

are in active clinical trial for prevention of prostate cancer include,

difluoromethylornithine (DFMO), isoflavonoids, selinum, vitamin D, vitamin E

and lycopene.

Changes in diet and life-style: Diets rich in animal fats might increase the

risk of developing prostate cancer, so theoretically decreasing the amount

of animal fat in the diet might decrease the risk of developing prostate

cancer. Active clinical trials are ongoing focusing on the issues of dietary

modification as a way of prostate cancer prevention. Some of the ongoing

studies might answer the question if food low in animal fats and high in

fruits and vegetables would ultimately decrease the risk of prostate cancer.

Some recent studies have shown that dietary products and diets rich in

calcium might increase the risk of developing prostate cancer. Future

studies may answer the question with regard to benefit of dietary

modification in the context of prostate cancer.

Hormonal prevention: Prostate cancer is treated with suppression of male

hormone testosterone. In theory drugs that would cause a decrease in the

testosterone levels might decrease the risk of prostate cancer development.

Studies are undergoing using some of the male hormone blocking drugs to see

if this strategy would be effective in prostate cancer prevention. An

example of one such drug is finasteride, which causes a decrease in the

amount of male hormone (testosterone) produced by the body.

In summary there are several strategies that might be effectively used to

prevent the development of prostate cancer. Some of these strategies are

more promising than other ones and only more work and research would

ultimately show us, which of these strategies are better and if so if these

strategies could be used in combination.