More than 30,000 Americans will be diagnosed with colon cancer this year, and many of them will win their initial battle. But in order to keep the cancer from coming back, your diet may play a big role.
After 55-year-old John Coughlin was diagnosed with stage-three colon cancer and went through months of chemotherapy, he did a lot to stay healthy. And it turns out what he eats, or doesn't eat, could impact his chances of the cancer recurring.
"It's not really increasing the amount of fruits and vegetables but really trying to reduce the amount of red meat intake and fatty foods and sugary, 'desserty' foods that seems to be protective for colon cancer recurrences and survival," said Dr. Jeffrey Meyerhardt of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
That higher fat diet is called a western pattern diet. Researchers at Dana-Farber studied the pattern in colon cancer patients.
"The biggest surprise is actually the impact that a western pattern diet seems to have," Dr. Meyerhardt said.
Stage-three colon cancer patients who ate high amounts of a western pattern diet were about three times more likely to have recurrent cancer, or to die, compared to patients who ate less of those types of foods.
The study says improved colon cancer outcomes are more likely if stage-three colon cancer patients eat like John does- lots of fish, chicken, brown rice, and less western pattern foods, like red meat.
"To cut down from one steak a week to one steak a month is not a big deal," Coughlin said.
This study is in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Finding colon cancer early is the best way to beat it. The American Cancer Society recommends a colonoscopy starting at age 50.
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