A large study by NIH concerning choline and cases of lethal prostate cancer DID find a correlation of highest blood concentrations of choline and death caused by prostate cancer…
However - and this is critical - researchers could not contribute large amounts of choline in cancer cells to dietary consumption; their conclusion was that metabolism of choline is “clearly” altered in men with prostate cancer. In other words, its not the absolute amount of choline you ingest, its the fact that ANY amount you eat is liable to be handled differently in those men with prostate cancer who will go on to DIE from it. My take is that the lethal form of PCa - as opposed to the garden variety most of us have - is what is causing the high levels of choline - not the other way around.
There was a huge controversy a while back about flaxseed, flaxseed oil and PCa….did it prevent it or cause it?? Because they found larger than normal amounts of ALA ( alpha alanine) in PCa cells, and flaxseed contains huge amounts of the same compound, researchers theorized that the ALA was causing the prostate cancer. However, after running a double blind experiment on men scheduled to undergo prostatectomy, they found that flaxseed LOWERED 6 different cancer markers in the men who had eaten the flaxseed and not in the placebo group.
So proof positive that it was NOT the flaxseed (and its ALA) causing the cancer. But after doing more testing involving biochemical tracers they found that many men with PCa do not metabolize ALA properly and this is why it winds up in such high concentrations in the cells. Once again, CORRELATION IS NOT CAUSATION!
I actually emailed the head researcher in Minnesota ( whose name escapes me now) and she told me to keep eating flaxseed since it did not fuel PCa.
I can get her name if you would like to read their study.