CClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT07220499Updated Oct 24, 2025

Whole Food Plant-based Diet to Improve Outcomes in Prostate Cancer

An interventional study of Whole Food Plant-based Diet in Prostate Cancer, sponsored by Pacific Cancer Care. Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to male participants aged 45 Years to 99 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2025-10-24.

Sponsored by Pacific Cancer Care · Not applicable, Interventional, and Other

From the registry’s dates

  • Registered 1 year 11 months after the study started (first participant enrolled Nov 2023, registered Oct 2025).
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
11
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
45 Years to 99 Years
Sex
Male
01

Study summary

The purpose of this research is to determine if consuming a whole food plant-based diet for six months impacts outcomes in men with prostate cancer that have a rising prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level. The main questions it aims to answer are:

Does a whole-food plant-based impact PSA? Does a whole food plant-based diet impact risk factors associated with treatment for prostate cancer including LDL cholesterol, hemoglobin A1C, C-reactive protein?

Participants will be asked to attend twelve two-hour plant-based cooking and nutrition classes throughout a six-month period, consume a mostly whole food plant-based diet, provide blood samples, and complete three-day food journals to assess nutrient intake.

Read the detailed description

Ten men with histologically or cytologically confirmed adenocarcinoma of the prostate will be recruited from local urologists and oncologists. Eligible participants will be asymptomatic with a rising PSA on at least two tests no more than 6 months apart. Participants will come from one of four categories: 1) early stage, not on therapy; 2) non-metastatic prostate cancer on therapy; 3) metastatic, not on therapy; 4) metastatic, on antiandrogen (i.e. leuprolide) therapy that is no longer effective.

Participants will attend 12 two-hour group educational sessions at Pacific Cancer Care over the course of 24 weeks to encourage increased consumption of whole plant foods including fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, and decreased consumption of processed and animal foods including refined carbohydrates, meat, seafood, eggs, and dairy. Strict elimination of animal foods will not be required allowing dietary flexibility.

Educational sessions will consist of a 1-hour presentation on various nutrition topics with an emphasis on the benefits of whole plant foods, a 30-minute cooking demonstration of a whole food plant-based meal and taste test, and a 30-minute discussion. Participants will be encouraged to bring one support person, preferably someone they share meals with such as a spouse, to the sessions. A booklet summarizing the information presented in the educational sessions, including whole food plant-based recipes, will be provided to participants and their support person. Participants will be provided with a "take-home" ingredient that was used to prepare the meal in class and organic produce boxes from weeks 1 through 9 and $20 gift cards for weeks 10 through 24.

The primary outcome will be change in PSA, which will be measured at baseline, 12 weeks, and 24 weeks. Secondary outcome measures will be assessed at baseline and 24 weeks including changes in nutrient intake as assessed by 3-day food journals, LDL cholesterol, hemoglobin A1C, and high sensitivity C-reactive protein. Insulin-like growth factor-1 and insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 will also be measured.

02

Conditions studied

  • Prostate Cancer

Browse trials for

Keywords

  • whole food plant-based diet
03

In context

Prostatic Neoplasms

6,370 studies on the registry are indexed under Prostatic Neoplasms; 1,400 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 11 is below the median of 58 across 4,822 interventional studies indexed under Prostatic Neoplasms.

Browse Prostatic Neoplasms studies →

Lead sponsor

This is the only study on the registry with Pacific Cancer Care as lead sponsor.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
45 Years to 99 Years
Sexes eligible
Male
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • Males 45-99 years of age
  • Histologically or cytologically confirmed adenocarcinoma of the prostate
  • Increasing PSA on at least 2 sequential tests not more than 6 months apart.
  • Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status Scale of 0 to 2
  • Adequate organ and marrow function, based upon meeting all of the following laboratory criteria:

    • White blood cell count ≥ 2500/mm3 (≥ 2.5 GI/L)
    • Platelets ≥ 50,000/mm3 (≥ 100 GI/L) without transfusion
    • Hemoglobin ≥ 9 g/dL (≥ 90 g/L)
    • Alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), total bilirubin ≤ 2x upper limit of normal (or for subjects with Gilbert's syndrome direct bilirubin WNL) Serum albumin ≥ 2.8 g/dl
  • Willingness and ability to comply with all study-related procedures
  • Capable of understanding and complying with the protocol requirements and must have signed the informed consent document

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Nut or legume allergy
  • Currently consuming a vegetarian or vegan diet
  • Concurrent participation in other nutrition or weight loss programs
  • Expected changes in exercise patterns during the study period
  • Active prostatitis
  • Insulin-dependent or requiring diabetes mellitus
  • Expected changes in chronic medications, including statins or oral diabetes medication during the study period (including a change in medication dosage)
  • Expected radiation, chemotherapy, bone resorptive agents or anti-androgen within 2 months of beginning the diet intervention
  • Known history of electrolyte imbalance or micronutrient deficiency, e.g., magnesium, cobalamin
  • Ongoing use of warfarin anticoagulants
  • Diagnosed, active inflammatory bowel disease
  • Alcohol and/or drug abuse
  • Psychiatric illnesses or social situations that would limit compliance with study requirements including the inability or lack of equipment to perform basic cooking tasks
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Other
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
11 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Whole Food Plant-based Diet

    Other: Whole Food Plant-based Diet

Interventions

  • OtherWhole Food Plant-based Diet

    6-months of a predominately whole food plant-based diet

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Prostate Specific Antigen

    Time frame: 6 months

Secondary outcomes

  1. LDL-cholesterol

    mg/dL

    Time frame: 6 months

  2. Hemoglobin A1C

    % of total hemoglobin

    Time frame: 6 months

  3. high sensitivity C-reactive protein

    mg/L

    Time frame: 6 months

Other outcomes

  1. Plasma insulin-like growth factor 1

    ng/mL

    Time frame: 6 months

  2. Plasma insulin like growth factor binding protein 3

    ng/mL

    Time frame: 6 months

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Pacific Cancer Care
    Monterey, California 93940, United States
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: Yes — Data will be made available upon reasonable request.

Supporting information: Study protocol, Sap, Icf

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Oct 24, 2025, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT07220499
Lead sponsor
Pacific Cancer Care
Responsible party
Dorothy Tenney (Research, Pacific Cancer Care) — Principal investigator
First posted
Oct 24, 2025
Start date
Nov 7, 2023
Primary completion
Sep 25, 2025
Completion
Sep 25, 2025
Last update
Oct 24, 2025

Study contacts

John Hausdorff, MD
principal investigator · Pacific Cancer Care

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Oct 2025. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

Follow this study

Get an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.

Sign in to follow

Discussion

Questions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.

Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.

Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.

Start the discussion