Therapeutic Effects of Pomegranate on Prostate Cancer
Although the 5-year survival rate for men with prostate cancer has increased dramatically, from a 67% survival rate in the 1970s to over 90% in recent years when caught and treated early, prostate cancer is still the most common cancer (excluding skin cancer) and the second leading cause of cancer-related death in men in the United States.
Primary management of the disease for most men is either radical surgery or radiation therapy. In a significant number of men, the disease metastasizes. According to the authors, patients who have undergone primary management to cure the disease and who have progressive elevation of their prostate-specific antigen (PSA) without documented evidence of metastatic disease have limited treatment options.
In this study, the authors sought to determine the effects of pomegranate juice consumption on PSA progression in those patients. The pomegranate (Punica granatum L., Punicaceae) fruit has been used for centuries in ancient cultures for its medicinal purposes.1 Commercial pomegranate juice shows potent antioxidant2,3 and antiatherosclerotic4 properties attributed to its high content of polyphenols, including ellagic acid in its free and bound forms and other flavonoids.
