Environmental factors the primary cause of prostate cancer

• Scientists are testing the effects of a healty diet on prostate cancer.
• With the large number of immigrants in Hawaii from Japan, researchers at the University of Hawaii set out to determine why this difference exists.
• Their research involved Japanese-Americans including first generation immigrants and their offspring.
• What they found was that cancer rates varied between Japan and Hawaii and that cancer rates varied between generations within Hawaii.
• This, says Kolonel, is an indication that it can't just be genetics.
• Researchers concluded the likeliest culprit was diet -- especially as more Western eating habits make their way into Hawaii with fast food restaurants.
• Now, Kolonel and colleagues at the University of Hawaii are collaborating with researchers at the University of Southern California to gather groups of individuals in one of the following categories: native Hawaiians from Hawaii, Caucasians from Hawaii, Japanese-Americans from Hawaii, African-Americans from California, and Latinos from California.
• Their goals are twofold: see which components of the diet increase the risk for cancer and which protect against cancer; and see if those relationships are consistent across ethnic groups.
• All filled out a 26-page questionnaire about their diets and some will have blood and urine collected as well to look at biological markers that explain what happens to the food once it's absorbed into the bloodstream.
• "We want to be able to recommend to the public not just specific suggestions like 'eat less fat' or 'eat more fiber,' but what's the kind of diet that you should eat in general?
• Dr. Dean Ornish, inventor of the Ornish diet, has found by eating a diet low in fat and high in fruits and vegetables, men can actually lower their risk of prostate cancer.