The next time you serve pasta marinara, tell yourself you’re doing it to fight cancer. A few simple lifestyle changes such as exercise and changes in diet—adding tomatoes, for instance—can cut a man’s risk of prostate cancer and improve his quality of life.

Studies show that a diet light in red meat and animal fat and rich in vegetables, fruits, and whole grains reduces a man’s risk of developing prostate cancer, says Christopher Amling, M.D., director of UAB’s Division of Urology. Tomatoes—particularly cooked tomato products—are full of lycopene, a cancer-fighting antioxidant. One study showed that men who ate one or more weekly servings of tomato sauce had a 23 percent lower risk than men who had less than one serving a month. Pink grapefruit and watermelon are also good sources of lycopene.

Foods such as rice, wheat, and seafood contain selenium, another antioxidant that may prevent prostate cancer or slow tumor growth. In fact, men from Pacific Rim cultures, where diets are rich in soy protein and fish, have lower incidences of prostate cancer.

“There are lots of ongoing investigations into antioxidants, vitamins, and other things that are prospective prevention agents for prostate cancer,” Dr. Amling says. UAB’s Center for Nutrient-Gene Interaction, a cutting-edge cancer prevention project, is looking at the effects of many food items, including soy and green tea. Drinking green tea daily has been shown to help protect against breast cancer, and researchers are wondering if it will have the same effect against prostate cancer.

A regular exercise program also is essential to lowering prostate cancer risk. A 2005 study found that men over age 65 who vigorously exercised three or more hours per week had a 70 percent lower risk of being diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer compared to those who got little exercise, although it did not find that correlation in younger men. Being active and fit is suspected to have a modest impact on risk, Dr. Amling says.

Beyond diet and exercise, researchers are also on the lookout for drugs that may prevent prostate cancer. One study showed that Proscar (finasteride) provided a 25 percent reduction in cancer risk. “It’s a drug that has been used to shrink prostates in men with benign prostate hyperplasia,” Dr. Amling explains. “We tend to advocate that drug in men who are at higher risk: African-American men, men who have an elevated PSA with a negative biopsy, and men who’ve had previous biopsy findings suggesting they’re at higher risk for eventually developing cancer.”