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. 2022 Mar 4;115(3):662-670.
doi: 10.1093/ajcn/nqab365.

Association of plant-based diet index with prostate cancer risk

Stacy Loeb  1 , Benjamin C Fu  2 , Scott R Bauer  3 , Claire H Pernar  2 , June M Chan  4 , Erin L Van Blarigan  4 , Edward L Giovannucci  2   5   6 , Stacey A Kenfield  4 , Lorelei A Mucci  2   6
Affiliations

Association of plant-based diet index with prostate cancer risk

Stacy Loeb et al. Am J Clin Nutr. .

Abstract

Background: Plant-based diets are associated with multiple health benefits and a favorable environmental impact. For prostate cancer, previous studies suggest a beneficial role of specific plant-based foods (e.g., tomatoes) and a potentially harmful role of specific animal-based foods (e.g., meat, dairy). However, less is known about plant-based dietary patterns.

Objectives: We sought to examine the relation between plant-based diet indices and prostate cancer risk, including clinically relevant disease.

Methods: This was a prospective cohort study including 47,239 men in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (1986-2014). Overall and healthful plant-based diet indices were calculated from FFQs. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate HRs and 95% CIs to examine the risk of incident prostate cancer (total and by clinical category), among men ages <65 and ≥65 y.

Results: Of the 47,239 men, 6655 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer over follow-up, including 515 with advanced-stage disease at diagnosis, 956 with lethal disease (metastasis or death), and 806 prostate cancer deaths. Greater overall plant-based consumption was associated with a significantly lower risk of fatal prostate cancer (HR: 0.81; 95% CI: 0.64, 1.01; P-trend = 0.04). In men aged <65, a higher plant-based diet index was associated with a lower risk of advanced, lethal, and fatal prostate cancer. Moreover, greater consumption of a healthful plant-based diet was associated with lower risks of total (HR: 0.84; 95% CI: 0.73, 0.98; P-trend = 0.046) and lethal prostate cancer (HR: 0.56; 95% CI: 0.34, 0.94; P-trend = 0.03) at age <65. There were no associations between overall or healthful plant-based diet indices with prostate cancer among men ≥65 y. Fewer than 1% of participants followed a strict vegetarian or vegan diet.

Conclusions: This prospective study provides supportive evidence that greater consumption of healthful plant-based foods is associated with a lower risk of aggressive forms of prostate cancer, with stronger benefit among men aged <65 y.

Keywords: dietary patterns; epidemiology; nutrition; plant-based diet; prostate cancer.

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Comment in

  • Urological Oncology: Prostate Cancer.
    Taneja SS. Taneja SS. J Urol. 2022 Sep;208(3):736-738. doi: 10.1097/JU.0000000000002796. Epub 2022 Jun 27. J Urol. 2022. PMID: 35757917 No abstract available.

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