Preventing prostate cancer with a broccoli sprouts diet

This 2018 Oregon rodent study fed a 15% broccoli sprout diet beginning at four weeks of age to a mouse strain with a near-100% chance of developing prostate cancer:

“Broccoli sprouts reduced prostate cancer incidence and progression to invasive cancer. Broccoli sprout consumption also decreased histone H3 lysine 9 trimethylation in the ventral lobe (age 12 wk), and decreased histone H3 lysine 18 acetylation in all prostate lobes (age 28 wk).

The TRAMP model of prostate cancer was utilized because the tumors occur in the prostate epithelium and the tumor tissue histopathology closely mimics human disease. Additional advantages include that the tumors arise spontaneously and appear in ∼100% of mice.”


Like in utero prevention of breast cancer by a broccoli sprouts diet, this study had a problem measuring sulforaphane dosage. The relevant statements were:

“This 15% broccoli sprout diet had 400 mg SFN [sulforaphane]/kg diet, which was chosen because it is equivalent to 1 mg SFN/d which has been used in previous studies.

Food consumption was measured over the course of the study and no difference was found in the intake of food between the control and broccoli sprout–fed groups.”

To be “equivalent to 1 mg SFN/d” at a .4 mg sulforaphane/gram rate, the animals would eat 2.5 grams per day. That’s half of a normal intake. “Food consumption was measured” but not disclosed.

The study for the “1 mg SFN/d” dosage cited at http://cancerpreventionresearch.aacrjournals.org/content/early/2015/02/21/1940-6207.CAPR-14-0386.full-text.pdf was actually:

“4 week old male TRAMP mice were treated with PBS [phosphate-buffered saline] (control) or 1 mg SFN in PBS three times/week for 15-18 weeks.”

not “1 mg SFN/d which has been used in previous studies.”

The researchers didn’t sufficiently quantify their findings to help humans, which is the basic purpose of any animal study.

https://academic.oup.com/cdn/article/2/3/nzy002/4803105 “Broccoli Sprouts Delay Prostate Cancer Formation and Decrease Prostate Cancer Severity with a Concurrent Decrease in HDAC3 Protein Expression in Transgenic Adenocarcinoma of the Mouse Prostate (TRAMP) Mice”

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