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Sugar abstinence for prostate cancer

Posted by firespooks @firespooks, Dec 20, 2022

Has anybody’s doctor told them to abstain from sugar because it feeds cancer cells ? Thank you Stephen Casper

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Prostate Cancer Support Group.

Profile picture for koji480
koji480 | @koji480 | Aug 18, 2025
In reply to @jeffmarc "Some people’s prostate cancer does not produce PSMA. In those cases, a PSMA PET scan can’t..." + (show)
Profile picture for Jeff Marchi @jeffmarc

Some people’s prostate cancer does not produce PSMA. In those cases, a PSMA PET scan can’t find anything. Neuroendocrine prostate cancer in particular can’t be seen.

The FDG PET scan is the recommended scan to use next to try to find metastasis that do not produce PSMA.

More information

If prostate cancer cells do not produce PSMA, a PSMA PET scan will not be effective in detecting metastasis. However, in such cases, FDG PET scans (which target glucose metabolism) may be able to visualize metastasis. This is because some prostate cancers, particularly advanced or neuroendocrine types, can rely more heavily on glucose metabolism for energy and thus show up on FDG PET scans.

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Interesting...

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peterj116 | @peterj116 | Aug 18, 2025
In reply to @kjacko "I watched a podcast where the prostate nutrition expert highly encouraged avoiding milk. She encouraged drinking..." + (show)
Profile picture for kjacko @kjacko

I watched a podcast where the prostate nutrition expert highly encouraged avoiding milk. She encouraged drinking plant based milk, and suggested Ripple as the alternative.

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We don't have Ripple down here. Unless it's in the American grocer. I'll have a look.
Milk made from peas?
I love peas, but that's a step too far.

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peterj116 | @peterj116 | Aug 18, 2025
In reply to @jeffmarc "Some people’s prostate cancer does not produce PSMA. In those cases, a PSMA PET scan can’t..." + (show)
Profile picture for Jeff Marchi @jeffmarc

Some people’s prostate cancer does not produce PSMA. In those cases, a PSMA PET scan can’t find anything. Neuroendocrine prostate cancer in particular can’t be seen.

The FDG PET scan is the recommended scan to use next to try to find metastasis that do not produce PSMA.

More information

If prostate cancer cells do not produce PSMA, a PSMA PET scan will not be effective in detecting metastasis. However, in such cases, FDG PET scans (which target glucose metabolism) may be able to visualize metastasis. This is because some prostate cancers, particularly advanced or neuroendocrine types, can rely more heavily on glucose metabolism for energy and thus show up on FDG PET scans.

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Oh, come on, Jeff. Now there's invisible cancer? Great.
I had a look. Scan is free, so at least we have some chance.

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Jeff Marchi | @jeffmarc | Aug 18, 2025
In reply to @peterj116 "Oh, come on, Jeff. Now there's invisible cancer? Great. I had a look. Scan is free,..." + (show)
Profile picture for peterj116 @peterj116

Oh, come on, Jeff. Now there's invisible cancer? Great.
I had a look. Scan is free, so at least we have some chance.

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The most common type of prostate cancer that can’t be seen is neuroendocrine. It takes many years to develop, But it produces no PSMA.

I know two guys who have died from it. Once you get it, you don’t have even two years.

There are a few Clinical trials going on now to try to lengthen the overall survival.

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kjacko | @kjacko | Aug 18, 2025
In reply to @peterj116 "We don't have Ripple down here. Unless it's in the American grocer. I'll have a look...." + (show)
Profile picture for peterj116 @peterj116

We don't have Ripple down here. Unless it's in the American grocer. I'll have a look.
Milk made from peas?
I love peas, but that's a step too far.

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It does have pea protein. It’s actually quite good. I also drink plant based oat milk.

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robertov | @robertov | Aug 18, 2025
In reply to @jeffmarc "The most common type of prostate cancer that can’t be seen is neuroendocrine. It takes many..." + (show)
Profile picture for Jeff Marchi @jeffmarc

The most common type of prostate cancer that can’t be seen is neuroendocrine. It takes many years to develop, But it produces no PSMA.

I know two guys who have died from it. Once you get it, you don’t have even two years.

There are a few Clinical trials going on now to try to lengthen the overall survival.

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Well, that’s interesting. Why haven’t I heard that my clean PSMA isn’t definitive (i know it’s not) It may be because you have endocrine form. Might be useful to know. Does a different PSMA scan help with this (Choline)?
I mean I’ll be having markers put in next week and I’ve never heard of this?
Appreciate you addressing it.

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1 reply
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ashok2 | @ashok2 | Aug 19, 2025
In reply to @johnbishop "Hi Stephen @firespooks, While we wait for other members to share their experience, I thought I..." + (show)
Profile picture for John, Volunteer Mentor @johnbishop

Hi Stephen @firespooks, While we wait for other members to share their experience, I thought I would share a couple of references on the sugar and prostrate cancer.

" Should you avoid sugar with prostate cancer?
Here's another: If you are on ADT for metastatic prostate cancer, you are more likely to gain weight, and also to develop insulin resistance. One way to fight this is by limiting your sugar and simple-to-digest carbs. Bonus: keeping insulin down may also help slow down the cancer. Jun 22, 2020"
-- Prostate Cancer's Sweet Tooth - Prostate Cancer Foundation:
https://www.pcf.org/c/prostate-cancers-sweet-tooth/
"Here’s where the myth that sugar fuels cancer was born: if cancer cells need lots of glucose, then cutting sugar out of our diet must help stop cancer growing, and could even stop it developing in the first place. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. All our healthy cells need glucose too, and there’s no way of telling our bodies to let healthy cells have the glucose they need, but not give it to cancer cells.

There’s no evidence that following a “sugar-free” diet lowers the risk of getting cancer, or boosts the chances of surviving if you are diagnosed."
-- Sugar and cancer – what you need to know:
https://news.cancerresearchuk.org/2020/10/20/sugar-and-cancer-what-you-need-to-know/

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I think taking turmeric garlic ginger and black pepper green tea and antioxidants can be of great help

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VancouverIslandHiker | @vancouverislandhiker | Aug 19, 2025
In reply to @jeffmarc "The most common type of prostate cancer that can’t be seen is neuroendocrine. It takes many..." + (show)
Profile picture for Jeff Marchi @jeffmarc

The most common type of prostate cancer that can’t be seen is neuroendocrine. It takes many years to develop, But it produces no PSMA.

I know two guys who have died from it. Once you get it, you don’t have even two years.

There are a few Clinical trials going on now to try to lengthen the overall survival.

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Jeff - Yes , I have heard of these PC's that don't produce PSA signals . They are super aggressive I heard too ! James .

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Jeff Marchi | @jeffmarc | Aug 19, 2025
In reply to @robertov "Well, that’s interesting. Why haven’t I heard that my clean PSMA isn’t definitive (i know it’s..." + (show)
Profile picture for robertov @robertov

Well, that’s interesting. Why haven’t I heard that my clean PSMA isn’t definitive (i know it’s not) It may be because you have endocrine form. Might be useful to know. Does a different PSMA scan help with this (Choline)?
I mean I’ll be having markers put in next week and I’ve never heard of this?
Appreciate you addressing it.

Jump to this post

Some people do not produce PSMA, but less than 10% of prostate cancer patients have this problem. Many of them are due to neuroendocrine prostate cancer. Some patients have PSMA for some lesions, but not for others, so the scan can only see some of the metastasis.

The FDG scans can detect those lesions that don’t produce any PSMA. The choline scan can see some neuroendocrine cancers because they may be only partially converted and some PSMA tissue can still be there.

The choline scan is only available for Mayo.

To get more information do this search in an AI

“can a choline scan see prostate cancer lesions don't produce PSMA“

While a choline PET scan is primarily used for imaging prostate cancer, it can also be useful in visualizing neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC). However, NEPC can also be visualized using other imaging techniques, such as PSMA PET/CT and FDG PET/CT.

While PSMA PET scans are primarily used for prostate cancer, they can sometimes detect neuroendocrine cancer, particularly when it exhibits neuroendocrine differentiation. However, PSMA is not the primary or most reliable tracer for neuroendocrine tumors, and somatostatin receptor based PET scans are often preferred.

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VancouverIslandHiker | @vancouverislandhiker | Aug 19, 2025

Stephen - Did your Dr indicate it has a effect ? I have heard / Read that sugars effect some cancers ....BUT , I have read that PC is sensitive to Testosterone (T) . Sugar is not really what I have read . Fruit sugar is readily digestible . James .

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