Disclosure to physicians of CAM use by breast cancer patients: findings from the Women's Healthy Eating and Living Study.

Background: Physician awareness of their patients' use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is crucial, particularly in the setting of a potentially life-threatening disease such as cancer. The potential for harmful treatment interactions may be greatest when a patient sees a CAM practitioner--perceived as a physician-like authority figure--but does not disclose this to their physician. Therefore, this study investigated the extent of nondisclosure in a large cohort of cancer patients.

Biological mediators of effect of diet and stress reduction on prostate cancer.

Background: A 6-month pilot intervention trial was conducted to determine whether adoption of a plant-based diet, reinforced by stress reduction, could reduce the rate of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) increase, a marker of disease progression, in asymptomatic, hormonally untreated patients experiencing consistently increasing PSA levels after surgery or radiation.

Methods: A pre-post design was used to examine (1) the effect of intervention on potential mediators of disease progression, including body composition and weight-related biomarkers (sex steroid hormones and cytokines), and (2) whether changes in these variables were associated with change in rate of PSA increase. The baseline rate of PSA increase (from the time of posttreatment recurrence to the start of intervention) was ascertained from medical records.

Diet and survival after prostate cancer diagnosis.

Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed non-skin cancer in men in the United States. Among environmental factors, diet may play a particularly important role in its incidence, progression, and clinical outcome. This article reviews the findings of eight observational studies and 17 intervention or laboratory trials on the effect of plant-based diets and plant nutrients on both the progression and clinical outcome of prostate cancer as well as additional studies examining mechanisms that may explain dietary effects.

Adoption of a plant-based diet by patients with recurrent prostate cancer.

The Western diet has been associated with prostate cancer incidence as well as risk of disease progression after treatment. Conversely, plant-based diets have been associated with decreased risks. A pilot clinical trial of a 6-month dietary change and stress reduction intervention for asymptomatic, hormonally untreated patients experiencing a consistently rising PSA level, the first sign of recurrence of prostate cancer after surgery or radiation therapy, was conducted to investigate the level of intake of plant-based foods and the relationship between intake and the change in the rate of PSA rise.

Potential attenuation of disease progression in recurrent prostate cancer with plant-based diet and stress reduction.

A rising level of prostate-specific antigen (PSA), after primary surgery or radiation therapy, is the hallmark of recurrent prostate cancer and is often the earliest sign of extraprostatic spread in patients who are otherwise asymptomatic. While hormonal therapy may slightly extend survival in a minority of patients, it is not curative and produces side effects including hot flashes, decreased libido, and loss of bone mass. Alternatively, dietary modification may offer an important tool for clinical management.