POMEGRANATES IN THE PREVENTION OF PROSTATE CANCER

There has been a lot of interest recently in the ancient fruit known as the pomegranate. The pomegranate is grown on the Punica granatum tree and has been shown to possess strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. The interest in the pomegranate mainly revolves around its potential use in prostate cancer prevention and treatment.

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths among U.S. males and similiar statistics are seen in many other Western countries. Because prostate cancer is typically diagnosed in men over the age of 50 years and is usually slow growing, any degree of delay in the progression of the cancer would be significant. 

The fruit of the pomegranate contains hundreds of phytochemicals and pomegranate extracts have recently been shown to exhibit antioxidant properties, thought to be due to the action of ellagic acid, the main polyphenol in pomegranate.

Numerous studies have been done to attempt to elucidate the effect of pomegrante juice or extract. Most of the studies to date have been done in the test tube or in mice and seem to suggest a postive effect fue to pomegrante juice or extract.

There are now ongoing clinical trials which are testing whether or not these benefits will be seen in humans with prostate cancer. To view a complete list of the trials being conducted in the United States, go to www.clinicaltrials.gov

To search the medical literature go to www.pubmed.gov