A pill made from olive oil and herbs could dramatically reduce a man?s chances of developing prostate cancer. A trial at Columbia University in the US revealed the herbal supplement can reduce the rate at which prostate cancer cells grow and spread by nearly 80 percent.

The results, published in the medical journal Nutrition And Cancer, appear to confirm anecdotal evidence that the herbal mixture has powerful anti-cancer properties. Called Zyflamend, the supplement is based on olive oil and ten different herbs.

It is already widely used as an alternative to prescription drugs in conditions such as arthritis. This is because it appears to reduce inflammation that causes painful, swollen joints.

Available through health food stores and this website and costing around 25 for 60 capsules, Zyflamend attracted the attention of researchers at Columbia University after tests showed it stopped cancer cells multiplying.

Zyflamend shows great promise but after testing the pill on almost 50 men, the team admitted they had not expected it to have such a potent effect.

?These results were particularly surprising and show greater promise in the fight against prostate cancer, said Dr. Debra Bemis, who led the study.

We hope the benefits shown will be confirmed in a larger scale trial already in progress.

Every year in Britain, around 27,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer. For many, the tumour grows so slowly it may never need treatment. But in others it spreads throughout the body. The disease is on the increase in Britain, and although genetics are known to be a factor, studies show vegetarians are half as likely to get it as meat-eaters.

Treatments include surgery to remove the prostate, radiotherapy to kill cancer cells or hormone therapy, where testosterone levels in the body are reduced in order to starve the tumour. In the search for ways to prevent the disease, most research has concentrated on lycopene - a substance found in tomatoes and shown to halt tumour growth.

But last year, the Columbia University team set up the first clinical trial to investigate the effects of Zyflamend.

Herbal mix
The supplement includes concentrated extracts from a range of common herbs and spices, such as turmeric, ginger, rosemary and oregano. Other ingredients include green tea extracts, a type of basil found only in India and herbs from Japan and China.

Several ingredients have been found to block the effects of an enzyme called cyclooxygenase-2, or COX-2. This is responsible for triggering inflammation throughout the body in conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and heart disease. Some experts believe it is also implicated in the development of certain cancers.

The US researchers studied the herbal pill?s effects by looking at what impact it had on a condition called prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia, or PIN. This is where the top layers of cells of the prostate start to divide more rapidly than usual. It?s a pre-cancerous state that greatly increases the chances of a man going on to develop a tumour. A man with PIN has a 50 to 70 per cent chance of getting cancer.

Tests showed that the supplement dramatically slowed the rate at which pre-cancerous cells grew.

Dr Bemis said: Zyflamend has shown an ability to reduce cancer cell proliferation by as much as 78 per cent, and to induce cancer cell death. These results are exceptionally promising.

The Prostate Cancer Charity?s head of policy and research, Chris Hiley, said: ?This research is in the very early stages. But it is significant that it may be able to stop men developing prostate cancer.?

?2005 Associated New Media