After carefully reviewing your digital rectal exam results, PSA, Gleason score, tumor stage, and overall health, your doctor has recommended active surveillance or watchful waiting. This involves an active monitoring of your condition rather than more aggressive, immediate treatment.
According to Ian M. Thomson, MD, and Laurence Klotz, MD, quoted in an American Cancer Society article concerning an editorial in the Journal of the American Medical Association, “The appeal of active surveillance is both the desire to avoid overtreatment and the concern about how treatment affects quality of life.” (ACS)
Yet less than 10 percent of men choose active surveillance, even when their doctors recommend it. Now that you’ve chosen active surveillance, what should you do?
Practice Active Surveillance
- Pay attention to your body. If you notice anything unusual or different in your urinary habits, pain, swelling, or any other signs or symptoms, contact your doctor as soon as possible.
- Schedule and keep your regular visits to your doctor. During those visits, he or she may do the following test:
- Digital rectal exam to determine if there are any changes to your prostate
- PSA blood test to see if your levels of prostate-specific antigen have risen, which may indicate prostate cancer growth
- Transrectal ultrasound, which your doctor may perform if he or she has found reasons on other tests to suggest the cancer is growing
- Prostate biopsy, which is usually recommended one year after active surveillance begins, and subsequently as your doctor recommends.
Maximize Your Prostate Health
Now is the time to do everything you reasonably can to maximize your prostate health and prevent progression of prostate cancer. Here are sixteen nutrition and lifestyle suggestions to help you get the most out of your life on active surveillance and maintain maximum immunity.
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Choose nutritious foods. Food choices play a major role in the development of various cancers, including those that affect the prostate, breast, colon, and pancreas. You may significantly reduce your risk of getting prostate disease by making some adjustments to your diet. Read more on the Prostate Diet |
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Focus on fruits and vegetables. Include a plentiful variety of fruits and vegetables in your diet every day, at every meal, and choose organic when possible. Fruits and vegetables are good sources of anticancer, inflammation-fighting compounds, such as antioxidants, phytonutrients, fiber, and other nutrients. Research indicates that these substances have an ability to reduce the risk of developing some cancers, including prostate cancer. (Cohen 2009) Read more on fruits and vegetables See also |
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Choose healthy fats. Studies show that men who live in countries where a high-fat diet is typical are more likely to develop prostate cancer than men who reside in countries where the diets tend to be lower in fat. Read more about healthy fats |
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Eat omega-3 rich foods. Omega-3 fatty acids are a healthy fat found primarily in certain fish, such as salmon and herring. The omega-3 fatty acids possess anti-inflammatory properties and are potent antioxidants, two characteristics that likely are reasons they’ve been shown to reduce the risk of prostate cancer. Read more about omega-3 fatty acids |
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Select plant-based protein rather than animal protein. The World Health Organization has stated that the development of prostate cancer has been linked to “diets high in red meat, dairy products, and animal fat.” Read more about plant and animal protein |
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Eat whole, natural foods. Whole, natural foods are typically high in fiber, and fiber has been linked to lower levels of testosterone (Wang 2008) and lower PSA scores (Tariq 2000), two indicators of a healthy prostate. Read more about whole, natural foods |
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Drink green tea. Research shows that men who drink green tea may reduce their risk of developing prostate cancer by as much as 70 percent when compared with men who don’t drink green tea. (Jian 2004) One reason for this anticancer benefit is the presence of compounds called catechins, which are plentiful in green tea and have the ability to slow the growth of cancer cells and promote cancer cell apoptosis (“suicide”). Read more on green tea |
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Take supplements: Supplements that have been shown to be beneficial for prostate health include: Vitamin D, Zinc, Resveratrol, Saw Palmetto, Beta sisterol, Pygeum africanum, Curcumin(turmeric), Omega 3, Stinging Nettle Root, Rye pollen (cernilton), Quercetin and Green tea extract. Read more on top supplements for prostate cancer |
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Achieve and maintain a healthy weight. Research indicates that men who are overweight have a greater risk of prostate cancer, a lower long-term survival rate, and are prone to develop more aggressive forms of prostate cancer. Read more about obesity and prostate cancer |
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Exercise regularly.A number of studies suggest regular exercise can help slow the spread of prostate cancer, and is also beneficial for men who have had surgery for prostate cancer. Read more about exercise and prostate cancer |
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Manage stress. Chronic, long-term stress can weaken the immune system, cause fluctuations in hormone levels, and increase susceptibility to disease, including prostate cancer. Read more about stress management |
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Keep hormones in balance. Hormones have a critical role in prostate health and prostate cancer, and the importance of hormones lies not so much with their levels as with their relationship with each other—their balance. Read more about maintaining hormone balance |
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Maintain a healthy sex life. Keeping sexually active appears to be beneficial for the prostate. Read more about a healthy sex life and your prostate |
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Practice prostate-friendly habits. Smoking, sleep habits, use of medications and other drugs, and alcohol can all have an effect on prostate health and the risk of prostate cancer. Read more about lifestyle and prostate health |
Reference
ACS (American Cancer Society):
http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/news/News/study-active-surveillance-ok-for-some-men-with-prostate-cancer
