Assessment of Healthy Eating Index and Serum Levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D and Zinc in Prostate Cancer Patients

Abstract

Background and Objectives Prostate cancer is the most common malignant cancer in men. In this study, the healthy eating index (HEI) and serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D and zinc were evaluated in prostate cancer patients compared with healthy individuals. Subjects and Methods In this study, 30 men who had recently been diagnosed with prostate cancer were compared with 30 otherwise healthy age-matched men in terms of their serum levels of 25 hydroxyvitamin D and zinc as well as HEI. The latter was evaluated in both groups using a 3-day food record. Results There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of age, weight, BMI and waist circumference. The scores of all components of HEI were not significantly different in the two groups, and in spite of the lower total HEI score in the prostate cancer group, this difference was not statistically significant. Differences between the two groups in terms of serum zinc levels were marginally significant (P-value=0.053). However, the serum level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D in the prostate cancer group was significantly lower than that in the control group (P-value =0.046). Conclusion The results of this study showed that there are statistically significant and marginally significant differences between prostate cancer patients and their otherwise healthy aged-matched counterparts in terms of serum levels 25 hydroxyvitamin D and zinc, respectively. There was no significant difference between the two groups regarding the HEI score.