August 4, 2003 – Ovarian cancer killed nearly 2,000 women in Canada in 2002, but researchers have now found that those who have it can increase their chances of survival by eating a diet rich in vegetables.
Only 25% of ovarian cancer cases are detected very early, when the disease responds best to treatment. In most cases, they are not detected until the disease has already spread elsewhere in the body, which makes it much more difficult to treat. The researchers therefore decided to see what impact diet could have on this type of cancer, since it is a factor that women can easily control.
So they recruited 609 women with the most common type of ovarian cancer.1. They asked them about their consumption of 119 foods and found that those who ate the most vegetables, except potatoes, survived the longest. Those who consumed a lot of dietary vitamin E (supplements did not seem to have any benefit) also survived longer.
On the other hand, women whose diets were rich in dairy products increased their risk of early death by about 30%.
And even more encouragingly, the researchers say that a healthy diet can have a beneficial impact on patient survival even if it is not adopted until after diagnosis.
The researchers would now like to see other scientists look into the matter to verify their results.
Jean-Benoit Legault – PasseportSanté.net
According to ACS News; July 30, 2003.
1. Nagle CM, Purdie DM, Webb PM, Green A, Harvey PW, Bain CJ. Dietary influences on survival after ovarian cancer.Int J Cancer 2003 Aug 20; 106 (2): 264-9.
