Nutrition Bytes

Prostate cancer is the second most common cause of male cancer death in the United States (1). The American Cancer Society predicts that in 2003 there will be 220,900 new cases and 28,900 deaths from prostate cancer in the U.S. (12). Although there have been mixed results, the data presented from epidemiologic studies suggests a correlation between lower prostate cancer risk and tomato consumption (2,4,8,6,7). Tomatoes are a source of vitamins A and C, folate, potassium, calcium, iron, and carotenoids (6,7). Of the carotenoids in tomatoes, lycopene is the most abundant and is postulated to work as a chemopreventive agent through antioxidant properties. While there have been studies that do not support this correlation, they have either been done with in populations that consume levels of lycopene, too low to show differences between high and low consumers, or they have not included the most relevant bioavailable sources of lycopene, in processed tomato products. The largest prospective epidemiologic study to date was the Physician’s Health Study conducted in male health professionals from 1986-1998. The data from 47,365 participants showed that the increased consumption of tomatoes and tomato products was associated with increased serum levels of lycopene as well as lower risks for prostate cancer (4,8). Both epidemiologic and the limited clinical data to date, suggest an inverse correlation between increased tomato consumption or serum lycopene levels and decreased risks of prostate cancer (2,7).