Raena Morgan: Hi! I'm Raena Morgan with iHealthTube visiting with Dr. Aaron Katz. He wrote 'Prostate Health'. What are some of the complementary treatments to prevent recurrence of prostate cancer? Once you've actually been down that road and you've gotten better.
Dr. Aaron Katz: Well, I think first, it's important to address this issue of recurrence. Many men in United States that undergo what they believe to be definitive, curative treatment, with surgery, radiation can have, as you mentioned a biochemical recurrence, which is defined as a rising PSA test.
For example, if men had surgery, their PSA should be, and should always be zero. Any rising of that PSA does indicate that the cancer has returned.
Raena Morgan: Okay.
Dr. Aaron Katz: So then the question is, "Well, if the cancer is returning, what are their options?" There are a whole lists of complementary or as we we're referring to earlier integrative therapies; that can help in not only delaying this recurrence of PSA, but also if it has happened, if the PSA has started to arise, can it prevent this PSA from arising from a very steep slope? Can it increase the time that it takes for that PSA to double? Because if we increase the PSA doubling time, we can increase that patient's survivability!
Raena Morgan: Alright.
Dr. Aaron Katz: So what are some of these compounds? Well, for one, we've been studying as we mentioned earlier the compound Zyflamend at our institution. At Columbia University our clinical trials are showing that this compound, which contains the herbs that we mentioned can interfere with the pathway of inflammation, as other investigators have shown. That pathway of inflammation is directly related to propagation and the growth of these cancer cells. So I think this is an important compound that should be considered for every man.
In addition, there are other nutrients that we've been studying, that other investigators have also studied, such as selenium, lycopene, vitamin E, and vitamin D, as well as Green Tea, which is also in the Zyflamend compound.
There are some other recent studies looking at the role of pomegranate juice and pomegranate extracts, in expanding that PSA doubling time. There are products, one of them from New Chapter, called LycoPom, which incorporates lycopene and pomegranate extract into a supplement that men can take if they don't like the taste of pomegranate juice.
Raena Morgan: Well, that' nice to have an alternative.
Dr. Aaron Katz: Absolutely.
Raena Morgan: Because we're looking at a lot of alternatives here.
Dr. Aaron Katz: Yes, and these are some of the ways that we can, again hopefully delay and postpone this PSA from recurring or from doubling. In addition to some of these supplements, as we mentioned, changing lifestyle, changing the fat content in your diet. It can be very helpful going to more organic foods and reducing some of the other oxidizing compounds that men are exposed to.
Raena Morgan: Okay, well, thank you very much Dr. Katz.
Dr. Aaron Katz: Thank you.
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