Cancer Research: What Do We Know Today
That We Didn’t Know A Decade Ago?
WASHINGTON, DC Obesity as a major cause of cancer, a long-overdue focus on cancer survivorship, and a renewed concentration on the protective potential of the whole diet are a few of the most important developments of the last decade in cancer research, according to a new survey of top experts by the American Institute of Cancer Research (AICR).
(Media-Newswire.com) - WASHINGTON, DC Obesity as a major cause of cancer, a long-overdue focus on cancer survivorship, and a renewed concentration on the protective potential of the whole diet are a few of the most important developments of the last decade in cancer research, according to a new survey of top experts by the American Institute of Cancer Research ( AICR ).
For the New Year, AICR asked a handful 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 ten years, and what to expect in the next ten.
1. Excess Body Fat Revealed as Major Cancer Cause "One clear finding that has emerged is the importance of obesity in cancer prevention. 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."
Elisa V. Bandera, MD, PhD Associate Professor of Epidemiology at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
2. The Scientific Study of Survivorship Finally Gets its Due "At last, survivorship is starting to become a huge issue: There’s an increasing awareness that this is important for us to address. I think governmental agencies are starting to realize it's not only just a population at increased risk [for secondary cancers and other poor health outcomes], but it’s a population that can really have a big budget impact because cancer survivors are such intense users of health services.
We’ve learned there’s a whole energy balance issue and now we’re really trying to ferret out how body weight status plays a role in how people get through treatment successfully, and how it influences their long-term survivorship and overall health afterwards."
Wendy Demark-Wahnefried, PhD, RD Professor of Behavioral Science at University of Texas’ M. D. Anderson Cancer Center
3. Technology Makes Patterns in Evidence Easier to See "Researchers are examining the totality of evidence in ways that were not possible before. The AICR/WCRF expert report is an example of this comprehensive approach to synthesizing results from many different studies. Computer technologies and the statistical software available to researchers are much more advanced today then they were even ten years ago.
"From these research reviews, patterns are emerging that suggest it's the whole diet and ways of life, rather than single exposures like isolated nutrients or vitamins, that are important for the prevention of cancer and other chronic diseases."
Susan Higginbotham, PhD, RD, MPH AICR’s Director of Research, an epidemiologist and a registered dietitian
4. Connection Between Diet and Genes Comes to Light "Research now shows that healthy eating means much more than getting enough of a few specific nutrients like vitamin C and beta-carotene. 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."
Karen Collins, MS, RD Nutrition Advisor to AICR and a nationally syndicated columnist in the field of diet and nutrition since 1991
5. Awareness of Diet-Cancer Link Rises "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. 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." Jed Fahey, MS, ScD A nutritional biochemist and Faculty Research Associate at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
The Next Ten Years… 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.
"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 ten 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."
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The American Institute for Cancer Research ( AICR ) is the cancer charity that fosters research on the relationship of nutrition, physical activity and weight management to cancer risk, interprets the scientific literature and educates the public about the results. It has contributed more than $91 million for innovative research conducted at universities, hospitals and research centers across the country. AICR has published two landmark reports that interpret the accumulated research in the field, and is committed to a process of continuous review. AICR also provides a wide range of educational programs to help millions of Americans learn to make dietary changes for lower cancer risk. Its award-winning New American Plate program is presented in brochures, seminars and on its website, www.aicr.org. AICR is a member of the World Cancer Research Fund International.
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This story was released on 2010-01-26. Please make sure to visit the official company or organization web site to learn more about the original release date. See our disclaimer for additional information.