A three‑year UCLA study involving men being treated for prostate cancer has found that drinking an eight-ounce glass of pomegranate juice daily stabilized PSA levels 4 times longer than expected.
Increases in prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, is a biomarker that indicates the presence of cancer. UCLA researchers measured "doubling time," how long it takes for PSA levels to double, a signal that the cancer is progressing, said Dr. Allan Pantuck, an associate professor of urology, a Jonsson Cancer Center researcher and lead author of the study.
Doubling time is crucial in prostate cancer, Pantuck said, because patients who have short doubling times are more likely to die from their cancer. The average doubling time is about 15 months. In the UCLA study, Pantuck and his team observed increases in doubling times from 15 months to 54 months, an almost four-fold increase.
The enormous significance of this finding is that the pomegranate juice treatment may allow older men (65-70) to outlive their risk of dying from their cancer.
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