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Diet and cancer: where are we and where are we going?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 March 2007

Gad Rennert*
Affiliation:
Department of Community Medicine and Epidemiology and CHS National Israeli Cancer Control Center, Carmel Medical Center and Technion Faculty of Medicine, Haifa, 34362, Israel
*
Corresponding author: Dr G. Rennert, fax 972 4 834 4358, [email protected]
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Abstract

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Many studies have shown that overall dietary patterns, dietary components consumed, or mode of food preparation are all possibly relevant in either reducing or increasing the risk of cancer in animals or man. Yet, dietary intervention studies, stemming from laboratory and epidemiological observational studies have often failed to demonstrate the anticipated protection against cancer. One possible explanation for the discrepancy between the results of various observational and experimental chemo-prevention studies is the lack of control for biological diversity of the participants of these studies. It is suggested that future epidemiological studies provide evidence stratified by status of major metabolic polymorphisms pertinent to the study subject, and that future intervention studies take these differences into account in the design and analysis phases.

Type
Session: Whole cereal grains, fibre and human cancer
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 2003

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