The American Institute of Cancer Research recently asked a group of top experts studying the relationship of cancer to diet, nutrition, and weight management what they believe to be the most significant research findings of the past 10 years, and what to expect in the next 10. They talked a lot about the growing links between diet and cancer development and predicted that health recommendations may get a lot more specific in the future.
Body fat and cancer
“One clear finding that has emerged is the importance of obesity in cancer prevention,” said Elisa V. Bandera, MD, PhD, associate professor of Epidemiology at the Cancer Institute of New Jersey UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. “Maintaining a healthy weight is now the top recommendation for cancer prevention from both AICR and the American Cancer Society. This is particularly important as obesity rates have been increasing exponentially at state, national and global levels.
“Another important discovery over the past decade is the relevance of early life events in modulating cancer risk. Now we know that early life events, even in-utero and early childhood exposures can have an impact on the risk of developing breast cancer later in life.”
Looking at diet and gene connections
“Research now shows that healthy eating means much more than getting enough of a few specific nutrients like vitamin C and beta-carotene,” AICR nutrition adviser Karen Collins noted. “Vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, nuts and seeds contain thousands of phytochemicals, many of which influence one or more stages of cancer development.
“Some of these compounds can ‘turn on’ genes that protect us from cancer and ‘turn off’ genes that can promote cancer development. This is a key message because it makes variety in the plant foods we eat more important than ever. It also explains why studies using supplements often don’t show the cancer protection that might have been expected.”
Becoming more aware of links between diet and cancer
“Over the past decade, we, and many others, have been excited by our contributions to better understanding the basic science of these associations, and the epidemiologic evidence has continued to grow,” Jed Fahey, MS, ScD, a nutritional biochemist at Johns Hopkins, told AICR. “For me, the most pleasant surprise of the past decade has been the dramatic increase in public awareness of these interrelationships, and the increase in people practicing — or at least talking about — healthy lifestyles.”
Into the future
Looking ahead, AICR’s Susan Higginbotham says research methods will continue to improve. As that happens, she predicts, expect to see the advice that organizations like AICR provide to become more precisely targeted.
“There will be a lot of progress identifying subgroups of people who can best benefit from certain interventions, such as cutting down on alcohol or adding specific components to their diets,” she said.
“We will know a lot more about cancer survivorship and what survivors can do to improve their health and quality of life as well as decrease their chances of recurrence.
“It’s an exciting time to be in this field — the past 10 years have transformed our understanding of how lifestyle can help to prevent, treat and survive cancer. There are studies in the pipeline right now that could provide the answers to questions we couldn’t even contemplate just a decade ago.”
(This article was provided by the American Institute for Cancer Research in Washington, D.C. A registered dietician is available to respond to questions about diet, nutrition, and cancer at the free AICR Hotline at 1 (800) 843-8114 during business hours.)
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