Prostate Cancer, Nutrition, and Dietary Supplements (PDQ®)–Patient Version

SECTIONS

Introduction

Men in the United States get prostate cancer more than any other type of cancer except skin cancer. It is found mainly in older men. In the United States, about one out of five men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer. Most men diagnosed with prostate cancer do not die of it.

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is a form of treatment used in addition to (complementary) or instead of (alternative) standard treatments. CAM treatments generally are not considered standard medical approaches. Standard treatments go through a long and careful research process to prove they are safe and effective, but less is known about most types of CAM.

CAM use among prostate cancer patients is reported to be common. CAM treatments used by prostate cancer patients include certain foods, dietary supplements, herbs, vitamins, and minerals.

This PDQ summary gives general information about using foods and dietary supplements to lower the risk of developing prostate cancer or for treating prostate cancer, its symptoms, or side effects of disease treatment. In addition, this summary has sections for several specific foods or dietary supplements: