In the online version of the International Journal of Cancer, Dr. Sara Strom and associates evaluate the association between saturated fat intake and biochemical failure among men who underwent radical prostatectomy (RP) for prostate cancer.

A cohort of 390 patients who underwent radical prostatectomy at MD Anderson Cancer Center had a semi-quantitative validated Block food frequency questionnaire modified to their regional diets and completed for the year prior to the diagnosis of prostate cancer. Body mass index (BMI) was also calculated. Clinical and pathological data were abstracted from medical records.

Men who consumed high saturated fat diets (HSF) were younger and had higher BMIs at diagnosis than men with who consumed low saturated fat diets (LSF). There were no statistically significant differences in clinical and pathology characteristics, family history of prostate cancer, education, history of diabetes or physical activity between the 2 groups. Men on high saturated fat diets also consumed more total calories that men on low saturated fat diets. Saturated fats were most commonly consumed as beef steaks, cheese and cheese spreads, hamburgers and cheeseburgers, eggs, ice cream and salad dressings.

During the mean 97 month follow-up period, 20% of patients with organ-confined prostate cancer experienced a PSA failure. Patients on a HSF diets were significantly more likely to have a PSA failure and had significantly shorter PSA-failure free survival than men on a LSF diet (26.6 vs. 44.7 months, respectively). At 5 years post radical prostatectomy, 65% of patients who consumed HSF diets had no evidence of prostate cancer compared to 80% of men who ate a LSF diet. Men who were both obese and ate a high saturated fat diet had the shortest biochemical failure-free survival (19 months) and non-obese men on a low saturated fat diet had the longest (46 months). The data from the model were not altered by the inclusion of amount of physical activity performed by the subjects with prostate cancer (Newswise).