Lycopene in Treating Patients With Prostate Cancer or Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia

OBJECTIVES: * Assess the ability of prostatic tissue to accumulate doses of lycopene in patients with prostate cancer or benign prostate hyperplasia. * Determine whether the steady state level of DNA oxidation in blood and prostate tissue is responsive to lycopene dosing. * Investigate the effect of lycopene dosing on the lipid peroxidation marker malondialdehyde in serum. * Assess the importance of measuring multiple DNA oxidation products as biomarkers of oxidative stress and its chemoprevention. * Determine the significance of DNA oxidation products in blood as an indicator of oxidative stress in the prostate. * Measure prostate and blood uptake of the chemoprevention agent lycopene. OUTLINE: This is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 treatment arms. * Arm I: Patients receive oral lycopene once daily for 3 weeks. * Arm II: Patients receive oral placebo once daily for 3 weeks. In both arms, patients undergo biopsy to confirm diagnosis of prostate cancer or benign prostatic hyperplasia after 3 weeks of study therapy. Blood samples are collected at baseline and before surgery for biomarker/laboratory studies. PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 120 patients will be accrued for this study.