Role of diet in prostate cancer: the epigenetic link

Diet is hypothesized to be a critical environmentally related risk factor for prostate cancer (PCa) development, and specific diets and dietary components can also affect PCa progression; however, the mechanisms underlying these associations remain elusive. As for a maturing organism, PCa's epigenome is plastic and evolves from the pre-neoplastic to the metastatic stage. In particular, epigenetic remodeling relies on substrates or cofactors obtained from the diet. Here we review the evidence that bridges dietary modulation to alterations in the prostate epigenome. We propose that such diet-related effects offer a mechanistic link between the impact of different diets and the course of PCa development and progression.