Herb therapy may cut prostate cancer risk

NEW YORK, May 25 (UPI) -- A trial of men at high-risk for prostate cancer found the herbal extract Zyflamend, which may reduce cancer risk, was well tolerated, U.S. researchers say.

Researchers at the Center for Holistic Urology at Columbia University Medical Center and New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia said Zyflamend may have an anti-inflammatory mechanism of action and the agent has been shown to decrease prostate cancer proliferation in cell culture.

The study of 23 men ages 40-75, diagnosed with high-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia at biopsy -- lesions that indicate an increased risk of developing prostate cancer.

"Our results confirm that Zyflamend, in a dose of three times daily for up to 18 months, was well tolerated," Jillian L. Capodice, director of the Acupuncture Research and Integrative Clinical Service at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, said in a statement.

The findings were published in the Journal of the Society for Integrative Oncology.