Fruits, Vegetables and Prostate Cancer Prevention
Friday, November 13, 2009, 03:00 PM
Moby B Complex, Room 211

Prostate Cancer Prevention: Role of Dietary Bioactives

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In the United States, a man dies from prostate cancer every 19 minutes. Can increased consumption of fruit and vegetables decrease the prevalence of prostate cancer?

The Department of Health & Exercise Science presents a seminar by Lavanya Reddivari, Ph.D., from the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition. Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in men in the Unites States. Epidemiological and experimental studies indicate that diet rich in fruits and vegetables can reduce the risk of prostate cancer.

Fruits and vegetables are rich in a variety of bioactive compounds such as anthocyanins, carotenoids and phenolics. These bioactive compounds are shown to have anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic properties, thus suppressing carcinogenesis. However, the following questions are not fully addressed: 1) What role growing location, season and genotype plays in altering the content and composition of bioactive compounds in fruits and vegetables? 2) How does whole fruit/vegetable extract vs. different classes of bioactive compounds differ in their anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic properties? 3) What are the molecular mechanisms through which these dietary bioactives exert their chemopreventive potential?

It is critical to address the above questions comprehensively before recommending specific fruits/vegetables/bioactive compounds as chemopreventive agents.

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Event Contact: Chris Bell can be reached at (970) 491-7522

Sponsored by the Department of Health and Exercise Science