Do dietary patterns really affect risk for prostate cancer?

Over the years a variety of factors have suggested an association between diet and risk for prostate cancer — with a particular emphasis on the “dangers” of larger quantities of things like red meat, meat fats, and milk-based products in the diet.

Recently, a study at the University of Melbourne have conducted a prospective investigation of associations between dietary patterns and prostate cancer risk in 14,627 men of ages 34 to 75 years for an average of 13.6 years.

The bottom line to what is a complex epidemiological and statistical analysis is that this study were unable to identify any association between any dietary pattern and overall risk for prostate cancer. Specifically, the analysis also did not show any association between any dietary pattern and such factors as cancer aggressiveness, Gleason score, or age at diagnosis.