Phyllis Bowen, associate professor of human nutrition, along with her UIC colleagues, studied a group of thirty-two prostate-cancer patients who ate one tomato sauce-based pasta dish daily for three weeks before their scheduled prostatectomies. Oxidative DNA damage and levels of prostate specific antigen, or PSA (an enzyme that is an important marker in diagnosing prostate cancer), were measured before and after the pasta regimen.

Previous studies suggest human prostate tissue is particularly vulnerable to oxidative DNA damage, which occurs when oxygen molecules in the tissue attack the DNA, creating cellular instability. This instability can lead to malignant tumors.

A high level of lycopene was found in prostate tissues after the tomato sauce diet and surgery. Oxidative DNA damage was reduced by 28 percent, a statistically significant finding. PSA levels were reduced by 17.5 percent, but the researchers said more studies are needed to determine whether lycopene was responsible.

Although other researchers have investigated lycopene, this is the first study of its kind yielding statistically significant results with food instead of dietary supplements.

"This study shows that a food product with suspected phytochemicals such as lycopene acts as an antioxidant to such an extent that it can lower DNA damage," Bowen said. We're encouraged by the results of this study.

"For those men who like tomatoes and tomato sauces, I would advise them to incorporate more in their diet. Tomato sauces and beverages can count for one of the vegetable servings for the day, which is consistent with our current dietary advice to eat five or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day."

The UIC researchers' findings appeared in the December 19, 2002, issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The research was funded by the National Cancer Institute and Hunt-Wesson, Inc. A larger study is in progress involving patients with and without diagnosed prostate cancer.