Washington, November 14: Eating foods that contain fewer amounts of carbohydrates may help inhibit the progression of prostate cancer, according to researchers at Duke Prostate Center.

In a study of mice, the researchers have found that a decline in insulin production, which may be achieved by reducing the consumption of carbohydrates, may be helpful in stunting tumour growth.

“This study showed that cutting carbohydrates might slow tumour growth, at least in mice. If this is ultimately confirmed in human clinical trials, it has huge implications for prostate cancer therapy through something that all of us can control, our diets, ” said Dr. Stephen Freedland, a urologist at Duke University Medical Center and lead researcher on the study.

The research team compared tumour growth in 75 mice that were fed either a low-carbohydrate diet, a low-fat but high-carbohydrate diet, or a Western diet that was high in fat and carbohydrates.

It was found that mice feeding on a low-carbohydrate diet had the smallest tumour size and the longest survival rates.

“Low-fat mice had shorter survival and larger tumours while mice on the Western diet had the worst survival and biggest tumours. In addition, though both the low-carb and low-fat mice had lower levels of insulin, only the low-carb mice had lower levels of the form of IGF capable of stimulating tumour growth, ” said Freedland.

The researchers are now planning to conduct a study to determine whether their findings are applicable to humans also. They also wish to see whether a low-carbohydrate diet may have other positive effects on tumour growth.

“We are planning to start clinical trials sometime next year. The results of this study are very promising, but of course much more work needs to be done, ” Freedland said.

Freedland conducted most of the research for this study while doing a fellowship in urology at Johns Hopkins’ Brady Urological Institute under the tutelage of Dr. William Isaacs, a molecular geneticist there. (ANI)