The China Study - T. Colin Campbell and Thomas M. Campbell

Common Cancers: Breast, Prostate, Large Bowel (Colon and Rectal)

MUCH OF MY CAREER has been concentrated on the study of cancer. My laboratory work was focused on several cancers, including those of the liver, breast and pancreas, and some of the most impressive data from China were related to cancer. For this lifetime work, the American In- stitute for Cancer Research kindly presented me with their Research Achievement award in 1998.
An exceptional number of books have summarized the evidence on the effects of nutrition on a variety of cancers, each with their own particularities. But what I've found is that the nutritional effects on the cancers I've chosen to discuss here are Virtually the same for all cancers, regardless of whether they are initiated by different factors or are lo- cated in different parts of the body. Using this principle, I can limit my discussion to three cancers, which will allow me space in the rest of the book to address diseases other than cancer, demonstrating the breadth of evidence linking food to many health concerns.
I have chosen to comment on three cancers that affect hundreds of thousands of Americans and that generally represent other cancers as well: two reproductive cancers that get plenty of attention, breast and prostate, and one digestive cancer, large bowel-the second leading cause of cancer death, behind lung cancer.
BREAST CANCER
It was spring almost ten years ago. I was in my office at Cornell when I was told that a woman with a question regarding breast cancer was on the phone.
"I have a strong history of breast cancer in my family," the woman, Betty, said. "My mother and grandmother both died from the disease, and my forty-five-year-old sister was recently diagnosed with it. Given this family problem, I can't help but be afraid for my nine-year-old daughter. She's going to start menstruating soon and I worry about her risks of getting breast cancer." Her fear was evident in her voice. "I've seen a lot of research showing that family history is important, and I'm afraid that it's inevitable that my daughter will get breast cancer. One of the options I've been thinking about is a mastectomy for my daughter, to remove both breasts. Do you have any advice?"
This woman was in an exceptionally difficult position. Does she let her daughter grow up into a deathtrap, or grow up without breasts? Al- though extreme, this question represents a variety of similar questions faced every day by thousands of women around the world.
These questions were especially encouraged by the early reports on the discovery of the breast cancer gene, BRCA-l. Headline articles in the New York Times and other newspapers and magazines trumpeted this discovery as an enormous advance. The hoopla surrounding BRCA-I, which now also includes BRCA-2, reinforced the idea that breast cancer was due to genetic misfortune. This caused great fear among people with a family history of breast cancer. It also generated excitement among scientists and pharmaceutical companies. The possibility was high that new technologies would be able to assess overall breast cancer risk in women by doing genetic testing; they hoped they might be able to manipulate this new gene in a way that would prevent or treat breast cancer. Journalists busily started translating selective bits of this infor- mation for the public, relying heavily on the genetic fatalistic attitude. No doubt this contributed to the concern of mothers like Betty.
"Well, let me first tell you that I am not a physician," I said. "I can't help you with diagnosis or treatment advice. That's for your physician to do. I can speak about the current research in a more general way, however, if that is of any help to you. "
"Yes," she said, "that's what i wanted."
I told her a little bit about the China Study and about the important role of nutrition. I told her that just because a person has the gene for a disease does not mean that they are destined to get the cancer: promi- nent studies reported that only a tiny minority of cancers can be solely blamed on genes.
I was surprised at how little she knew about nutrition. She thought genetics was the only factor that determined risk. She didn't realize that food was an important factor in breast cancer as well.
We talked for twenty or thirty minutes, a brief time for such an impor- tant matter. By the end of the conversation I had the feeling that she was not satisfied with what I told her. Perhaps it was my conservative, scientif- ic way of talking, or my reluctance to give her a recommendation. Maybe, I thought, she had already made up her mind to do the procedure.
She thanked me for my time and I wished her well. I remember thinking about how often I receive questions from people about specific health situations, and that this was one of the most unusual.
But Betty wasn't alone. One other woman also talked to me regarding the possibility of her young daughter undergoing surgery to remove both breasts. Other women who already had one breast removed wondered whether to have the second breast removed as a preventative measure.
It's clear that breast cancer is an important concern in our society. One out of eight American women will be diagnosed with this disease during their lifetimes--one of the highest rates in the world. Breast cancer grassroots organizations are widespread, strong, relatively well funded and exceptionally active compared to other health activist orga- nizations. This disease, perhaps more than any other, incites panic and fear in many women.
When I think back to that conversation I had with Betty, I now feel that I could have made a stronger statement about the role nutrition plays in breast cancer. I still would not have been able to give her clini- cal advice, but the information I now know might have been of more use to her. So what would I tell her now?
RISK FACTORS
There are at least four important breast cancer risk factors that are affected by nutrition, as shown in Chart 8.1. Many of these relationships were confirmed in the China Study after being well established in other research.