Diet & Prostate Cancer
A healthy diet and lifestyle, combined with effective screening practices, can have a positive impact on your overall well-being and freedom from disease. Diets that contain high levels of vegetables, particularly cruciferous vegetables, have been associated with a reduced risk of prostate cancer. Studies have also suggested that increased levels of lycopene (a red pigment found naturally in tomatoes) may reduce the risk of prostate cancer and that foods high in fat, especially from animal sources, may increase the risk of the disease. Several clinical trials are now underway to verify the possible links between diet and prostate cancer.
Two good sources of up-to-date information about these and other clinical trials are the National Cancer Institute's Cancer Information Service (1-800-4CANCER) and the National Institutes of Health clinical trial database (www.clinicaltrials.gov).
Screening & Wellness
Memorial Sloan-Kettering provides numerous prevention, screening, and wellness services. Information about these services, guidance on how to stop smoking, and instruction on how to follow a healthy diet can be found on our Web site in the Prevention & Screening section.
Smoking Cessation
Although smoking has not been implicated directly as a risk factor for prostate cancer, by quitting smoking you can improve your overall health. Memorial Sloan-Kettering's Counseling Center offers a Smoking Cessation Program designed for cancer patients and their families who want to improve their health by stopping smoking. Our counselors use a range of individually tailored methods to help each person find alternative, healthy ways to resist the craving to smoke, and to quit smoking permanently. We understand the unique challenge of wanting to stop smoking while dealing with the stresses of treatment and the fear of recurrence. We welcome family members who want to stop smoking, as it may be easier for patients and their family members to quit together.
Adjusting to the "New Normal"
Many people with prostate cancer find that although they have looked forward to the time when active treatment is completed and "normal" life resumes this can be a difficult period of transition. Complete physical, mental, and spiritual recovery can take many months or even longer. To help patients manage some of the many issues that may come up in survivorship, we offer a wide range of programs for prostate cancer survivors and their families.
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Memorial Sloan-Kettering Counseling Center
Our Counseling Center offers individual and family counseling sessions to help prostate patients and their families address the problems they may encounter in adjusting to life after treatment.
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Living Beyond Cancer
People facing the challenges of cancer survivorship can access a variety of support services through the Living Beyond Cancer section of our Web site. This section includes information about professionally led support groups and counseling, survivorship clinics to manage the late effects of cancer and its treatment, recommendations about screening and healthy living, and specialized services to address sexual and reproductive health. We also offer a range of resources to help survivors, families, and friends better understand the complex emotional and social issues following treatment.
Recently, as part of its Survivorship Initiative, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center has established a program called Fertility Preservation and Parenthood After Cancer Treatment.
Additional services are offered through our Post-Treatment Resource Program, which provides a full range of educational support services, including individual and family counseling, periodic lectures or workshops to provide medical updates, and practical guidance on employment and insurance issues.
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Integrative Medicine Service
Our Integrative Medicine Service is designed to enhance cancer patients' quality of life through healing regimens that address the body, mind, and spirit. Beneficial complementary therapies include various types of massage, acupuncture, hypnotherapy, meditation, visualization and other mind-body therapies, music therapy, and nutritional counseling, as well as classes such as yoga, t'ai chi, and chair aerobics.
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Help for the Older Cancer Patient
A diagnosis of cancer is difficult at any age, but older patients face unique challenges. Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center is committed to providing cancer patients aged 65 and older with the treatment, facilities, and support they need.
Memorial Sloan-Kettering offers the services of a multidisciplinary geriatric team, which includes physicians, clinical nurse specialists, social workers, nutritionists, and psychiatrists, as well as members of the Pain and Palliative Care Department and the Integrative Medicine Service. The programs and care the team provides focus on the needs of elderly cancer patients.
For more information about our services for older patients as well as for their family and friends, visit the Help for the Older Patient section of our Web site.
