| HISTORY OF THE LINK BETWEEN NUTRITION AND CANCER |
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| Prevention of Cancer by WHO |
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| In 1964, a blue ribbon panel of scientific and medical experts appointed by the World Health Organization (WHO) concluded:
"The potential scope of cancer prevention is limited by the proportion of human cancers in which extrinsic factors are responsible. These include all environmental carcinogens (whether already identified or not) as well as modifying factors that favour neoplasia of apparently intrinsic origin (e.g. hormonal imbalances, dietary deficiencies, and metabolic defects)."
Prevention of Cancer, World Health Organization, Geneva, 1964
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| Diet, Nutrition and Cancer by NAS |
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| In 1982, the National Academy of Sciences, a blue ribbon panel of experts appointed by Congress, assembled a lengthy report on the prevention of cancer:
"By some estimates, as much as 90% of all cancer in humans has been attributed to various environmental factors, including diet. Other investigators have estimated that diet is responsible for 30% to 40% of cancers in men and 60% of cancers in women. Recently, two epidemiologists suggested that a significant proportion of the deaths from cancer could be prevented by dietary means..."
Diet, Nutrition, and Cancer, National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC 1982
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| Nutrition and Health, U.S. Surgeon General's Report |
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| In 1988, the United States Surgeon General gathered the nation's leading experts on nutrition and health to write a lengthy textbook on the role nutrition plays in preventing various diseases, including cancer:
"One group estimated the proportion of cancer deaths attributed to diet to be 40% in men and 60% in women, and another estimated it to be 35% overall, with a range of 10 to 70 percent." (p.179)
The Surgeon General's Report on Nutrition and Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Services, Washington, DC 1988
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| Unconventional Cancer Treatments |
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| In 1990, the Congress of the United States, through the Office of Technology Assessment issued a textbook on Unconventional Cancer Treatments, with a very positive endorsement of the role nutrition can play in comprehensive cancer treatment:
"It is our collective professional judgment that nutritional interventions are going to "follow" psychosocial interventions up the ladder into clinical respectability as adjunctive and complementary approaches to the treatment of cancer." (p.14)
Unconventional Cancer Treatments, Office of Technology Assessment, Congress of the United States, Washington, DC 1990
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| Adjuvant Nutrition in Cancer Treatment |
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| In 1993, Cancer Treatment Research Foundation hosted an international symposium on the role that nutrition plays in comprehensive cancer treatment. Experts from around the world, including Harvard, National Institutes of Health, University of Pennsylvania and other prestigious academic institutions agreed that diet and supplements could play a major role in improving the quality and quantity of life for medically treated cancer patients.
Patrick Quillin, PhD,RD,CNS, and R. Michael Williams, MD, PhD (co-editors), Adjuvant Nutrition in Cancer Treatment, Cancer Treatment Research Foundation, Arlington Heights, IL 1993
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