Food, nutrition and the prevention of cancer: A global perspective

摘要

It is estimated that globally in 1996 there were about ten million new cancer cases world wide, which, due to the growing and aging population and industrialisation is expected to increase by 50% in the next 25 years - and 7 million deaths. The effect of diet on the prevention of cancer has been a relatively recent area of research interest, although Peyton Rous in 1914 observed that overall dietary restriction delayed the development of tumour metastases in mice. Dietary links were largely discounted in the second half of the 20th century when exposure to chemical carcinogens and viruses as well as random genetic error were in favour. It was as recently as 1979 that the head of the United States (US) National Cancer Institute suggested to a Senate Committee that dietary advice should be given to the public; the first panel that reviewed the literature published in 1982 (the dietary guide lines of 1980 were not specifically about cancer).