Can good diet and nutrition help prevent prostate cancer? Lower mainland residents are invited to find out more at a public lecture, presented by the dietitians and nutritionists of the BC Cancer Agency, on Tuesday, April 29.

Prostate Cancer: Eating to prevent prostate cancer and lifestyle modification to improve health after diagnosis, is being presented by Dr. Wendy Demark-Wahnefried, a researcher in cancer and nutrition with the Duke Medical Centre in North Carolina.

"Prostate cancer is a huge health problem, and where comparatively little is known," explains Dr. Demark-Wahnefried. "It is a cancer where I hope to make a difference. Over the past ten years, I have conducted a variety of studies ranging from exploring racial differences in disease, to interventions aimed at hindering cancer proliferation in cell cultures."

Population-based research suggests that diet and nutrition play a key role in the prevention of prostate cancer. Diets rich in vegetables - particularly those containing lycopene, such as tomatoes – and those low in fat, may help protect men from this common cancer. Dietary supplements – such as Vitamin E, Beta-carotene, silenium, and flax seed – are also the subject of current trials to test whether these nutrients can help prevent prostate cancer.

Dr. Demark-Wahnefried will be providing an update on current research findings about prostate cancer and nutrition, both for men trying to prevent prostate cancer, and for those who want to make the best lifestyle choices after diagnosis.

"This is an exciting opportunity for the public, cancer survivors and patients, and medical professionals working with prostate cancer patients to hear first-hand from an expert who has been involved in a wide range of hormonally-linked cancers," says Angela Bowman, BC Cancer Agency registered dietitian/nutritionist. "Dr. Demark-Wahnefried's work in prostate cancer research touches on hot areas of interest, including the impact of dietary fat, flax seed, exercise, and general health and diet improvements."

And while the focus of the lecture is prostate cancer prevention and health, Dr. Demark-Wahnefried points out that it's important for men with prostate cancer to remember that proper diet can prevent a host of other complications.

"Men who are diagnosed with prostatic carcinoma are at greater risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, osteoporosis and secondary cancers," she says. "In fact, once a man has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, he is almost twice as likely to die than his peers, and the number one cause of death is not prostate cancer, but cardiovascular disease."

This event will be presented at 7 p.m., Tuesday, April 29, in the John Jambor room of the BC Cancer Agency, 600 West 10^th Avenue, Vancouver. To make attending the lecture more convenient for Fraser Valley residents, it will be videolinked to the conference room at the BC Cancer Agency's Fraser Valley Centre, 13750 96^th Avenue, Surrey.

As seating is limited, those interested are asked to RSVP. For Vancouver, call 604.877.6000, ex. 5080. For Fraser Valley, call 604.930.4055, ex. 4589.

This lecture is presented thanks to the generosity of several sponsors: The BC Cancer Agency's GU Tumour Group, Abbott Laboratories, Carlson Wagonlit Travel, Maple Leaf Foods, Mead Johnson Nutritionals, Nestle Canada, Thrifty Foods, and the Vancouver Island Prostate Cancer Research Foundation.