Grant: Master's Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

With the exception of non-melanoma skin cancer, prostate cancer (PCa) is the most common cancer among Canadian men. Although the exact etiology still remains unknown, it is well established that the risk of developing PCa is largely influenced by environmental factors and lifestyle behaviours. Nonetheless, studies on the effects of exercise and/or diet on PCa have yielded mixed results, possibly due to differing study designs. Further, although some explanations for the effects of lifestyle factors on PCa have been proposed, the mechanisms of action are largely unknown. The aims of this study are: 1) to provide substantial evidence on the association between healthy lifestyle and decreased PCa risk, incidence, and progression; 2) to gain insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying the relationship between lifestyle and PCa; and 3) to determine the therapeutic effects of improving lifestyle factors in PCa patients. Early-stage PCa patients will complete lifestyle assessment questionnaires and undergo blood tests and tissue biopsies (which will be analyzed for novel biomarkers that are affiliated with the proposed mechanisms underlying the relationship between lifestyle and PCa and have been shown to be linked to PCa progression) at baseline and after an optional six-month intervention. Biomarker levels will be correlated with lifestyle choices to identify the nature of the lifestyle-PCa association and some of the mechanisms involved, as well as the potential therapeutic effects of an intervention. The proposed research could lead to the use of lifestyle interventions in the prevention of the disease or as an addition to conventional treatments. It may also stimulate large scale investigations into the effects of lifestyle on other cancers/diseases as well, thereby having a very significant impact on human health and the health care system.