A new Rowett Institute study into whether adding particular types of fibre to prostate cancer patients' diets could slow the growth of tumours - or even shrink them - has the potential to deliver "significant benefits" to the development of future treatments.
That is the verdict of the NHS Grampian Charity, which has invested a grant of more than £90,000 into the research.
A team led by Professor Anne Kiltie is undertaking the work, which builds on a growing body of they have built about the different ways diet impacts the effectiveness of cancer treatments and management.
This latest study – being worked on by Dr Aliu Moomin, Dr Madi Neascu and Dr Sylvia Duncan, is partly focused on the potential benefits of hemp – a crop which the Rowett Institute has also been recently highlighting for its wider benefits to human nutrition and to combating climate change.
The team will be examining the effect of dietary fibres (including inulin, pectin and hemp hull) on the makeup of the bacteria in the gut of mice and the resulting beneficial metabolites – and on the growth of tumour cells.
Prof Kiltie, Friends of ANCHOR Clinical Chair in Oncology, University of Aberdeen, said: “This funding will allow us to build on our previous work demonstrating a benefit to dietary fibre supplementation in terms of improved tumour control and protection of the bowel from radiotherapy damage, by looking at other types of fibre and how these interact with the gut microbiota.
“In particular, we will be looking at hemp hull, a whole fibre, which is also packed with additional beneficial phytochemicals, and which is a sustainable, climate-friendly, locally produced source of fibre and nutrients.
“We hope that this work would lead to a large randomised clinical trial in the UK in men on active surveillance for prostate cancer. If the fibre supplementation is found to delay progression of the disease and prevent the need for active treatments, this would significantly improve outcomes for these patients and their quality of life.”
Announcing the £91,022 grant, NHS Grampian Charity research officer Dr Simon Dunmore said: “The importance of the intestinal microbiome in a wide range of of health areas, including the development of cancer, is becoming increasingly highlighted by numerous scientific studies.
“This study will provide important evidence of the role of a beneficial gut microbiome composition in reducing the aggressiveness and development of prostate cancer and the positive effect of dietary fibre on this microbiome.
“It has the potential to provide significant benefits to clinical knowledge and the treatment of prostate cancer patients here in Grampian and across the UK, and we are excited to support Professor Kiltie and her colleagues' work.”