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Diet, Nutrition, and Cancer (1982) / Chapter Skim
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1 Executive Summary
Pages 1-16

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From page 1...
... Although the number of cancer cases is steadily increasing as the population grows, the age-adjusted total cancer incidence and mortality rates for sites other than the respiratory tract (cancers of which are primarily due to cigarette smoking) have as a whole remained stable during the last 30 to 40 years.
From page 2...
... After assessing the resultant literature, the committee concluded that the differences in the rates at which various cancers occur in different human populations are often correlated with differences in diet. The likelihood that some of these correlations reflect causality is strengthened by laboratory evidence that similar dietary patterns and components of food also affect the incidence of certain cancers in animals.
From page 3...
... In the laboratory, investigators have attempted to shed light on the mechanisms by which diet may influence carcinogenesis. They have examined the ability of individual nutrients, food extracts, or nonnutritive components of food to enhance or inhibit carcinogenesis and mutagenesis, thereby providing epidemiologists with testable hypotheses regarding specific components of the diet.
From page 4...
... In various populations, both the high incidence of and mortality from breast cancer have been shown to correlate strongly with higher per capita fat consumption; the few case-control studies conducted have also shown this association with dietary fat. Like breast cancer, increased risk of large bowel cancer has been associated with higher fat intake in both correlation and casecontrol studies.
From page 5...
... Both epidemiological studies and experiments in animals provide convincing evidence that increasing the intake of total fat increases the incidence of cancer at certain sites, particularly the breast and colon, and, conversely, that the risk is lower with lower intakes of fat. Data from studies in animals suggest that when fat intake is low, polyunsaturated fats are more effective than saturated fats in enhancing tumorigenesis, whereas the data on humans do not permit a clear distinction to be made between the effects of different components of fat.
From page 6...
... In most laboratory experiments, carcinogenesis is suppressed by diets containing levels of protein at or below the minimum required for optimal growth. Chemically induced carcinogenesis appears to be enhanced as protein intake is increased up to 2 or 3 times the normal requirement; however, higher levels of protein begin to inhibit carcinogenesis.
From page 7...
... However, the correlation study indicated that the incidence of colon cancer was inversely related to the intake of one fiber component -- the pentosan fraction, which is found in whole wheat products and other food items. Laboratory experiments also have indicated that the consumption of some high fiber ingredients (e.g., cellulose and bran)
From page 8...
... In recent studies, the addition of ascorbic acid to cells grown in culture prevented the chemically induced transformation of these cells and, in some cases, caused reversion of transformed cells. Thus, the limited evidence suggests that vitamin C can inhibit the formation of some carcinogens and that the consumption of vitamin-Ccontaining foods is associated with a lower risk of cancers of the stomach and esophagus.
From page 9...
... The epidemiological evidence is derived from a few geographical correlation studies, which have shown that the risk of cancer is inversely related to estimates of per capita selenium intake, selenium levels in blood specimens, or selenium concentrations in water supplies. It is not clear whether this relationship applies to all types of cancer or only to cancer at specific sites such as the gastrointestinal tract.
From page 10...
... Limited experiments in animals suggest that dietary molybdenum supplementation may reduce the incidence of nitrosamineinduced tumors of the esophagus and forestomach. Studies conducted in Colombia, Iceland, and Scotland indicated that iodine deficiency, and also excessive iodine intake, may increase the risk of thyroid carcinoma.
From page 11...
... In laboratory experiments, vitamins, trace elements, nonnutritive food additives, and other organic constituents of foods (e.g., indoles, phenols, flavones, and isothiocyanates) have been tested for their ability to inhibit neoplasia (see Chapter 15~.
From page 12...
... diet in small amounts; however, there is no evidence that any of these substances individually makes a major contribution to the total risk of cancer in the United States. This lack of sufficient data should not be interpreted as an indication that these or other compounds subsequently found to be carcinogenic do not present a hazard.
From page 13...
... are occasionally detected in foods. The evidence reviewed by the committee does not suggest that the increasing use of food additives has contributed significantly to the overall risk of cancer for humans.
From page 14...
... The results of standard chronic toxicity tests indicate that a number of environmental contaminants (e.g., some organochlorine pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) cause cancer in laboratory animals.
From page 15...
... In epidemiological studies, frequent consumption of these foods has been inversely correlated with the incidence of various cancers. Results of laboratory experiments have supported these findings in tests of individual nutritive and nonnutritive constituents of fruits (especially citrus fruits)
From page 16...
... 6. Excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages, particularly combined with cigarette smoking, has been associated with an increased risk of cancer of the upper gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts.


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