https://www.lifeextension.com/magazine/2015/11/boron-reduces-prostate-cancer-risk

Boron Reduces Prostate Cancer Risk

Compelling evidence indicates that the trace mineral boron plays an important role in protecting men against deadly prostate cancer by selectively killing prostate cancer cells while leaving healthy cells unharmed. Adequate boron levels are associated with a 64% reduced risk of prostate cancer as well as a reduction in PSA levels.

Compelling evidence is accumulating that the trace mineral boron plays an important role in protecting men against deadly prostate cancer.1-3

As men grow older, their risk for prostate cancer skyrockets and metastasis outside the prostate is “uniformly lethal.”1

Fortunately, eye-opening studies demonstrate that boron has been found to selectively kill prostate cancer cells while leaving healthy cells unharmed.2,4 In addition, boron has been found to lower PSA1—which was previously believed to be only a marker for prostate cancer. More recent research shows that elevated PSA is a causative factor in prostate cancer progression.1

Adequate boron levels are associated with a 64% reduced risk of prostate cancer,3 but obtaining protective levels of boron from food alone is difficult.5 This means that supplementation with low-cost boron could be a lifesaver for aging males at risk for prostate cancer, in addition to other health benefits provided by this vital mineral.

Preferentially Targets Prostate Cancer Cells

The idea that supplemental use of boron might reduce the risk of prostate cancer was first brought to the attention of scientists following a 2001 study on dietary patterns of prostate cancer patients as reported long ago in Life Extension magazine.

This study compared the diets of 76 prostate cancer patients with those of 7,651 men without cancer. Researchers found that men who ingested the greatest amount of boron from their diets were 64% less likely to develop prostate cancer than those who consumed the least.

Interestingly, while there was a significant decrease in cancer risk in the group that consumed the most boron, those in the highest intake group only consumed 2.5 additional servings of fruit and one additional serving of nuts per day compared to those in the lowest boron intake group.3

A subsequent study confirmed these findings. For the study, the researchers compared the dietary boron intake of 95 prostate cancer patients with that of 8,720 healthy male controls. Researchers controlled for age, race, education, smoking, body mass index, dietary caloric intake, and alcohol consumption. They found that men with the highest boron intake showed a 54% lower risk of prostate cancer compared to those with the lowest intake.6 In addition, they noted that increased dietary boron intake was associated with a decreased risk of prostate cancer in a dose-response manner.

These findings not only underscored the remarkable, broad-spectrum health benefits associated with consuming fruits, but also suggested that boron in particular may be responsible for some of these protective benefits.

Encouraged by these epidemiological findings showing a connection between dietary intake of boron and reduced risk for prostate cancer, scientists set out to determine if supplementing with boron could protect against prostate cancer. Initial animal studies indicate that the answer is yes.

In a validated animal model of prostate cancer, researchers found that oral administration of various concentrations of a boron-containing solution substantially decreased tumor size. It also lowered levels of prostate-specific antigen or PSA—the most abundant protein synthesized in the prostate gland—suggesting a possible mechanism for these anticancer effects.7

In this animal model, researchers orally administered various concentrations of a boron-containing solution to test subjects and found that this resulted in decreases in prostate tumor size by 25% to 38%. Remarkably, PSA levels dropped by an astounding 86% to 89% in the animals that received boron.7

These findings suggested that supplemental boron may have both preventive and therapeutic effects—helping both to shrink prostate tumors and to decrease levels of PSA.

References

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