Diet and exercise important anti-cancer tools

Scientists believe that a healthy diet and regular exercise are once more key factors in staving off cancer.

The support comes from researchers from the Imperial College of Medicine and the UK's Institute of Food Research, studying colon cancer, and investigators at the University of California at Los Angeles looking into prostate cancer.

The UCLA researchers found that a low-fat, high-fibre diet and daily exercise can slow prostate cancer cell growth. "This is the first study to directly measure the effects of diet and exercise on inhibiting growth of prostate cancer cells and it strongly suggests that a low-fat diet and exercise regimen favourably affects the levels of hormones or growth factors that influence prostate cancer growth," says William Aronson, UCLA researcher.

The researchers were not able to separate the exercise and dietary components, making it difficult to attribute the results to diet, exercise, or a combination of both. "That's the next step," says Aronson.

Biochemical experiments performed at the Imperial College of Medicine and the Institute of Food Research, support the link between a diet rich in cruciferous vegetables and lowered risk of developing colon cancer.