Flaxseed Supplementation (Not Dietary Fat Restriction) Reduces Prostate Cancer Proliferation Rates in Men Presurgery

Study answer

What this study found

Flaxseed supplementation was associated with lower prostate tumor cell proliferation before surgery, whereas low-fat diet alone did not show a clear antitumor effect. Median Ki-67 proliferating cells per total nuclei x100 was 1.66 in the flaxseed group and 1.50 in the flaxseed plus low-fat group, compared with 2.56 in the low-fat group and 3.23 in controls; flaxseed arms showed lower proliferation with P < 0.002, and reported flaxseed-effect P values ranged from 0.0007 to 0.02. There were no consistent between-arm differences in apoptosis or most serologic endpoints. The low-fat arm…

Study & population

Randomized presurgical controlled trial in men with biopsy-confirmed prostate cancer scheduled for prostatectomy.

Intervention

Men in the flaxseed arm received 30 g/day of ground flaxseed orally, stepped up over 7 days (10 g on days 1–3, 20 g on days 4–6, 30 g/day from day 7 onward) with at least 64 oz/day of fluids.

Key limitation

The intervention period was short, averaging 30.7 days and ending within 3 days of surgery, so long-term clinical relevance is uncertain.

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Original abstract