Eating food high in fiber may help control the progress of prostate cancer in people who are diagnosed with early stages of the disease, according to a new study.

The study was based on the observation that although prostate cancer incidence in Asian countries is same as in the West, the cancer rarely progress in Asian men. Researchers argue that the high-fiber diet may play a role in keeping the cancer from progressing.

The study was conducted on a set of mice that were either fed with inositol hexaphosphate (IP6), that's found in high fiber diet or a diet without this component. Then, researchers used MRI to check the progress of the cancer in these mice.

"The study's results were really rather profound. We saw dramatically reduced tumor volumes, primarily due to the anti-angiogenic effects of IP6," said Komal Raina, research instructor at the Skaggs School of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Researchers say that the component from high-fiber diet prevented cancer cells from making new blood vessels that they require to stay alive. Without the blood vessels, the cancer cells can't grow.

Also, IP6 reduced the rate with which glucose is metabolized in the cancer cells possibly due to a reduction in the protein called GLUT-4 that is vital for transporting glucose, researchers said.

"Researchers have long been looking for genetic variations between Asian and Western peoples that could explain the difference in prostate cancer progression rates, but now it seems as if the difference may not be genetic but dietary. Asian cultures get IP6 whereas Western cultures generally do not," Raina says.

Experts recommend a dietary fiber intake of 14 grams (0.4 oz) per 1000 kcal for adults or 25 grams (0.8 oz) for adult women and 38 grams (1.3 oz) for adult men.

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