Processed meat and fish have been shown to be associated with the risk of developing advanced prostate cancer. There are only two studies that have looked at the kinds of foods that cause prostate cancer to grow and spread once the diagnosis of prostate cancer has already been made.

A study just published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that men with a higher consumption of eggs and chicken with the skin more than doubled the risk of rapid growth and spread of prostate cancer. The study started with 1294 men with stable prostate cancer who showed no sign of progression or recurrence of their disease. Over the following two year period, 127 of these men developed rapid progression or death from prostate cancer. Most often the culprit was a diet high in chicken and eggs.

The growth promoting properties of chicken may be due to heterocyclic amines, which are mutagens present at high concentrations in well-done poultry and have been shown to induce malignant prostate tumors in rats. Eggs also influence the plasma level of choline which is a marker associated with a greater risk of prostate cancer.

Perhaps the time has come for men to seriously consider giving up eggs in the diet–certainly those diagnosed with prostate cancer.