Does diet affect your prostate cancer outcome?

Over the years, the Sperling Prostate Center has posted many blogs on wise dietary habits. Research has shown they can lower the chances of developing prostate cancer (PCa). Our forward-looking collection includes information on the Mediterranean diet for reducing inflammation—a known precursor for cancer—and the cancer-preventing power of plant-based eating.

Now, a research team from Australia wants to know how dietary patterns affect “cancer mortality, recurrence, remission, quality of life, and prostate-specific antigen (PSA)” among patients who have PCa that has not yet begun to spread.^[i] In other words, if you already have localized PCa, does what you eat affect how your disease behaves?

How did the team gather facts?

In order to assemble and analyze available information, the team did a search of all published research up to March 2024. They looked for studies concerning patients with non-metastatic PCa for whom dietary facts were included. Criteria included “at least one primary outcome related to mortality, remission, quality of life or PSA/PSA doubling time.”

They engaged the services of two independent reviewers who decided which articles to choose based on the criteria, oversaw the extraction of data, and assessed the quality of each study. The reviewers finally selected 16 articles that were of sufficient quality and met the criteria.

Are some diets better than others for improving PCa outcomes?

The table summarizes the top findings showing that healthy diet improves PCa outcomes:

Diet type	Findings
Mediterranean diet	Lower overall mortality, better quality of life
Prudent diet	Lower overall mortality, lower PCa-specific mortality
Plant-based diet	Increased quality of life

On the other hand, the common Western diet is notorious for its link with poor cardiovascular health and increased cancer risk due to risks for obesity, diabetes, metabolic changes and an internal environment of chronic inflammation. The authors note that “a Western diet was associated with a higher cancer-specific mortality and overall mortality and high-inflammatory, hyperinsulinaemic [high blood sugar], and insulin-resistant diets with increased recurrence. “

Does the evidence show that healthy eating promotes better life with PCa?

The team’s conclusion says it all. As the team writes, “…there is fair evidence that suggests unprocessed foods with healthier dietary patterns of Mediterranean and prudent diets confer a beneficial effect on overall and cancer-specific mortality, recurrence, and quality of life whereas, a more Western and unhealthier diet generates the opposite.”

The Sperling Prostate Center takes pride in sharing the latest research findings in order to support long life with high quality of life for our PCa patients, and for our readers everywhere.

NOTE: This content is solely for purposes of information and does not substitute for diagnostic or medical advice. Talk to your doctor if you are experiencing pelvic pain, or have any other health concerns or questions of a personal medical nature.

References

[i] Htet T, Cheng F, Yang U, Harikrishna A, Preda V, Chen J. The Impact of Different Dietary Patterns on Mortality and Prognosis After Non-Metastatic Prostate Cancer Diagnosis: A Systematic Review. Healthcare (Basel). 2025 Sep 2;13(17):2201.