Vegetables, fruits, associated micronutrients, and risk of prostate cancer.

Greater fruit and vegetable intake is recommended to prevent cancer generally, but it is unknown if it protects against prostate cancer specifically. A comprehensive review on nutrition, food, and prostate cancer was published in 1997 by the World Cancer Research Fund and the American Institute for Cancer Research titled Food, Nutrition, and the Prevention of Cancer: a Global Perspective (1) (hereafter referred to as the 1997 Global Review). This report will summarize briefly the conclusions from that review on fruits and vegetables and their major nutrients and phytochemicals, discuss major studies published since 1997, and a few earlier studies not mentioned in the 1997 Global Review, and suggest directions for future research.