American Institute for Cancer Research, 1997. World Cancer Research Fund. Food, nutrition and the prevention of cancer: a global perspective. Nuts and Seeds. 450-1.
Since the early ‘80s, a number of expert reports have reviewed the literature on diet and cancer and made recommendations designed to reduce the risk of cancer. The report, of which this is a summary, builds on that earlier work. The experts recommend that populations consume nutritionally adequate and varied diets, based primarily on foods of plant origin. They specifically recommend that the public choose predominantly plant-based diets rich in a variety of vegetables and fruits, legumes and minimally processed starchy staple foods. The report notes, “While there are as yet no useful epidemiological data on nuts and seeds, it is biologically plausible that diets high in specific nuts and seeds or these foods as a whole, protect against cancers.”
Mills, P.K., W.L. Beeson, R.L. Phillips, G.E. Fraser, 1989. Cohort study of diet, lifestyle, and prostate cancer in Adventist men. Cancer. 64:598-604.
Dietary and lifestyle characteristics were evaluated in relation to subsequent prostatic cancer risk in a cohort of approximately 14,000 Seventh-day Adventist men who completed a detailed lifestyle questionnaire in 1976 and who were monitored for cancer incidence until the end of 1982. During the 6-year follow-up period, 180 histologically confirmed prostatic cancers were detected among some 78,000 man-years of follow-up. Increasing educational attainment was associated with significantly decreased risk of prostate cancer in this study; age at first marriage was also inversely associated with risk, although this was not significant. There was no relationship between body mass index (as measured by Quetelet’s Index) and risk. A history of prostate “trouble” was associated with a 60% increase in risk which was highly significant. Although there were suggestive relationships between increasing animal product consumption and increased risk, these results did not persist after accounting for the influence of fruit and vegetable consumption. Nor was exposure to the vegetarian lifestyle during the childhood years associated with alterations in subsequent risk. However, increasing consumption of beans, lentils and peas, tomatoes, raisin, dates, and other dried fruit were all associated with significantly decreased prostate cancer risk.
Kune, S., G.A. Kune, L.F. Watson, 1987. Case-control study of dietary etiological factors: the Melbourne colorectal cancer study. Nutr Cancer. 9:21-42.
A brief description is given of a large and comprehensive population-based investigation of colorectal cancer with a new study design. The study design allows the simultaneous examination of the incidence pattern, all the hypothesized causes and all the survival determinants of colorectal cancer of a defined population in a single data set. The relevance of this approach to surgeons in the primary prevention of and screening for colorectal cancer is illustrated in relation to the findings. Thus a diet with a low intake of fat and red meat and high intake of plant foods seems the most important factor in the primary prevention of colorectal cancer. In the screening for this cancer, high-risk groups include those with a previous colorectal cancer, a previous adenomatous polyp, a family history of colorectal cancer in first-degree relatives, Jews, those with an unsatisfactory diet and for rectal cancer, also those who are heavy beer consumers.
Pickle, L.W., M.H. Greene, R.G. Ziegler, A. Toledo, R. Hoover, H.T. Lynch, J.F. Fraumeni, Jr., 1984. Colorectal cancer in rural Nebraska. Cancer Research. 44:363-9.
A case-control interview study of colorectal cancer was conducted in two rural counties of eastern Nebraska to determine reasons for the elevated colon cancer mortality rates during 1950 to 1969. Comparison of the information provided by 86 colorectal cancer cases and 176 matched controls (or their next of kin) revealed an increased risk among persons of Czech background, with persons of Bohemian and Moravian extraction predominating in this area. The data suggest an interaction between Bohemian ancestry and certain dietary patterns in the pathogenesis of colon cancer in this region. Colon cancer risk was elevated among commercial beer drinkers regardless of their ethnic back ground, although Bohemians reported heavier consumption. An excess risk was also associated with intestinal polyps, reported more often by Moravians, and with familial occurrence of gastrointestinal and other cancers. Since 1969, the mortality and incidence rates for colon cancer in this area have declined, possibly as a consequence of acculturation of the American-born descendants of Czech immigrants.
