One of the more interesting abstracts at ASCO last week involved patients taking capsules with a mixture of plant extracts that contain polyphenols. I can pretty much guarantee that at least one of my patients this week will arrive with some sort of news article and ask my opinion. So in the spirit of pre-emption, here are my thoughts.
Polyphenols are some of several natural chemicals that seem to slow prostate growth in the test tube. That said, it makes sense that some of them might work in people. We, ourselves, looked at silibin, one of the more active polyphenols in a human clinical trial. Unfortunately, even taking 13 grams/day of the highly absorbed silibin phytosome preparation, did not seem to have any effect on PSA, possibly because the chemical is rapidly metabolized by humans (unlike mice). Other investigators have published positive results using pomegranate juice or extracts. I have previously reviewed some of these findings here and here. We also completed a trial recently using acai juice that is unpublished, but does show some mild activity.
When the abstract noted above on Pomi-T was presented, there was a great deal of skepticism from experts in the audience who went to the microphones to question the presenter. I think this was well-founded. In the past, patients have spent millions of dollars (literally) on PC-Spes. That story turned out to be actual fraud, with the activity almost certainly related to the manufacturers adulterating the herbal mixture with DES. So before you run to your computer and order Pomi-T from a company you have never heard of, be sure you read this article which tells the PC-SPES story. We all hope for simple, non-toxic solutions to cancer problems. Unfortunately, cancer is more complex than that and while I have personally seen some patients respond with drops (temporarily in all cases) in PSA when they start taking some new supplement and are brave enough to tell me about it, this is clearly a small minority. An interesting question remains: If it can’t hurt, why not? The PC-SPES story answers that – because you don’t know what you are taking! Furthermore, for every carefully studied herbal remedy, there must be 100 or so that are nothing but “hope in a bottle” for which charlatans are eager to charge willing and well-meaning patients. It will be interesting to see what further studies tell us about Pomi-T…
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Excellent summary. Long needed. We all get tempted by all the anecdotal stories and commercials. I wasted a year or more on Pomegranate in some form. Thanks for sharing the references too.
Greetings Michael, Could I talk to you about my latest PSA and biopsy results? I can come in if you’d like. Bud Lashlee
anytime
Wisdom comes with experience.
You might find this interesting, regards
Billy Dittmar
Does anyone know if it can be obtained anywhere except online from the manufacturer? I like to hold the bottle and read the label, not buy something sight-unseen. Thanks.
I have no knowledge about costs, availability or activity. In general, my experience is that various dietary supplements usually don’t work and are a waste of money. However, there are usually a few exceptions – 5-10% of patients consuming one or more of the products may indeed experience a slowing of psa or in some cases outright drop in psa. This is of course very satisfying to that patient but may or may not have any effect on survival or the overall course of prostate cancer progression. Before spending any money on any of them, be sure to look at this article. As always…caveat emptor!
Thanks for the frank review!
Does anyone know if it’s available besides online from the manufacturer? I like to read the label and see what something looks like. Any reports from ‘average users’ on the product? Thanks,
Leo K
I just received my order. THe label suggests 2 capsules per day
Contains:
Broccoli powder (brassica oleracea, florets and stalks 300mg
Turmeric powder (Curcuma longa (root) 300mg
Pomegranate powder (punica granatum L) (whole fruit) 300mg
Green Tea (camellia sinensis) (leaf) extract 5:1 60mg
http://www.cuh.org.uk/cms/addenbrookes-hospital/…/dr-robert-thomas
http://www.pomi-t.com/asco-pomi-t-study-abstract/
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My dad have cancer and I was looking for this product during six months. Recently, i found this web site who sell pomi-t. Take a look. This is the canadian distributor. Pomi-T is miracle pill.
http://gagneensante.com/pomi-t-dietary-supplement.htm
I seriously doubt that any dietary supplement is a “miracle”. Some patients may have some slowing of PSA, but I remain skeptical. I will try to be objective and report back if I see lots of patients responding. That has never been the case for ANY supplement that my patients have tried. The supplements seem to work in a small minority of patients, which is great, but for the majority, they are a waste of time/money. Time will tell…
Hi,
I found this Pomi-t facebook page!!
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pomi-T-The-Polyphenol-Rich-Food-Supplement/306228719520219
caveat emptor, but please let me know (anyone…) if you have positive or negative results. Maybe this could substitute for a “clinical trial” – blog readers registering their personal experiences with psa: even “slowed” vs “no effect” vs “dropped my psa” would be of interest to me and presumably readers.
Thanks for the link
Michael Glode
DR. good article. I have had my PSA checked for about 10 years now. It was always .04 to .08. However, 1 1/2 years ago, it went to 1.9-quite a change!. I had a biospy performed & my Gleason score was 3 + 3,with cancer in 2 cores. The measurements from Boswick Labatories showed the cancer was the size of a cat’s hair. Well, my urologist at the initial date wanted me to have my prostate removed. I on the other hand, decided to get a few other opinions from a team on of oncologist’s at a hospital in New Jersey, USA. They get me 5 options,but their recommendation was the same-remove the prostate. Having explored a bit of research on my own & with friends who do have prostate cancer, I decided to do Active Surveillance. Doing so, I have changed my diet, exercise more & take a few supplements-such as Pomi-T. My last 4 PSA’s were from 0.7 to 0.8. In addition, I had an MRI of my prostate were 2000 slides were viewed & the result was no change in the minute anounts of cancer. Same as was the result from the biospy. I’m not a Doctor & will never recommend anything regarding medications,supplements,etc. I have been using Pomi-T for 1 year now-one capsule p/day. It may be helpful, but I’m no expert! I do however appreciate advise & opinions with the snake oil ideas. I also have Cervical Dystonia & have had the condition for 27 years. I’m 65 years young & in good health, except for a cigarette now & then. There are some many conflicting thoughts/ideas/sugestions about PC-very confusing! Glad I found you Blog!
Michael,
Great work! No idea whether it is the diet, exercise or Pomi-T. All I can say is complete your lifestyle changes by dropping the cigarettes altogether. Give those electronic nicotine sticks a try if you have to. You could drop the Pomi-T for a while and see what happens to the psa, then resume it if you think the PSA is creeping up. That way you’d know whether the supplement is helping or it is the other good things you are doing. When you do too many things at once and something is working, it is always hard to figure out what is producing the good news, and of course the supplement/vitamin industry always wants us to think it is due to their pills…
Thank you Dr.! Good advise, that’s why I joined your Blog. I will give up the Pomi-T as I’m not sure if it does help with PC. My urologist suggested I stop taking Fish Oil Supplements-so I stopped that as well. Any thoughts on that idea? Enjoy your comments indeed!. Michael Shine.
Read my blog elsewhere on http://www.prost8blog.com to find my thoughts about fish oil and be sure to read the comment by one of the docs who also supplied some nice perspective.
My Correction “It may be helpful, but I’m no expert! I do however appreciate advise & opinions with the snake oil ideas-meant to write “without the snake oil ideas” Apologize!
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I do not Think that Pomi-T is a miracle, but the problem is not all these supplements. The problem is that our doctors / precent science can not help us. They cannot even tell us with some level os security, that these supplements dose not help. So I have prostate cancer(have done radical prostatectomy but it has returned), my doctor cannot stop it from growing, so should I just sit there and die??? or should I at least try something like this as long as my doctor doens´t have any cure??
Sometimes supplements work really well, but most of the time not. The good news is that psa can tell whether in YOUR case something is working and if you try something for 6-8 weeks and psa is not affected, you can quit it (don’t continue to pay for something that isn’t working is my recommendation) and try something else. Also, your doctor should have a huge number of other medical things to try, many of which work in the majority of patients.
Well if 6-8 weeks was enough for testing I would be glad. Last August I had PSA 0.16 (3 years after RP), and I was ready for salvage radiation. 2 month later it was down to 0.12 without me changing my food habits.(I know I am on a low level but after RP you can say that PSA < 0.05 = cancer present).
I Believe you are right that most supplement does not work, but unfortunatelly I only have one Life, and there are no second try. I Believe I will have to test for a longer period than those weeks. Perhaps you are totally right with those 6-8 weeks for our friends that have a more aggresive cancer.
Thank you for your email. Please refresh my memory regarding the questions you asked? Provida Curcummin and BIRM9?).? Thank you!.
I know nothing about BIRM9 and there is a large literature on curcumin you can see here: https://scholar.google.com/scholar?as_ylo=2020&q=cur+cumin+prostate&hl=en&as_sdt=0,6 I have had many patients try curcumin at various times and haven’t seen any particular benefit. As the link will reveal, there are both cell culture and some clinical trials that are constantly reported. My own experience with supplements of various sorts (curcumin, açaí juice, pomegranate juice, zyflamend, etc etc) is that they may work to slow psa in a minority(~5%) of patients. Potentially worth trying, but easy enough to tell whether to continue after a few months if you are getting a psa monthly and doing NOTHING else. (i.e. it makes no sense to attribute a drop in psa to a supplement if your physician also instituted a new, known effective therapy at the same time) The same goes for dietary manipulations, but in that case, most of the recommended diets for prostate cancer patients (low fat, high soy, etc) are “heart healthy” anyway and likely good for everyone to follow.
Thank you very much! I also wonder regarding BAT therapy? My father is Gleason 9 with bone mets and I’ve been reading alot about iADT and also some about BAT. Is it common? Has it good effects? Thank you again for a wonderful blog!
BAT is well worth looking into as is intermittent therapy. Generally BAT is considered after failing “standard” ADT which these days always includes a second generation agent like abiraterone, enzalutamide, apalutamide or darolutamide. It is an option to chemotherapy. Intermittent ADT is also a reasonable option for some patients, well researched prior to the second gen agents being introduced, and now under further study when using them.
Thank you very much! I talked to a guy who had begun BAT as a way to avoid being CR. Is this uncommon? I was very curious.
Also, I’m thinking of getting some supplements for my father (mostly because it can’t hurt) but then I read this post regarding masking of PSA. What is your opinion in that matter?
Thank you!!