Ways of preventing cancer ‘ignored’

Press, 14 June 1978, Page 9

Ways of preventing cancer ‘ignored’

NZPA Washington Several leading scientists accused the American National Cancer Institute of virtually ignoring ways of preventing cancer while focusing on an unsuccessful search for a cure. The scientists made the statements to the United States Senate nutrition subcommittee as it began two days of hearings on the institute. “I feel strongly that nutrition research is consciously ignored by the N.C.1.,” said Peggy Fry of the University of Texas. She said that studies had conclusively established a correlation between diet and cancer, citing studies of Seventh Day Adventists and Mormons who have a different diet from most Americans. The studies show significantly lower cancer levels in the two religious groups. Dr George Blackburn, of

I the Harvard Medical School, said that decisions on where to spend research dollars at the cancer institute were made by physicians who had little training in nutrition and little appreciation for recent advances in the field. Senator George McGovern, chairman of the sub-com-mittee, said earlier research indicated that the majority of cancers were preventable. He said about half the cases of cancer were nutri-tion-related but Government cancer research so far had dealt with treatment and the search for cures instead of studying dietary consequences.

By 1980 the nation would have spent SUSIO billion on cancer research, but “an adult's over-all chances today of being cured of cancer are not significantly better than they were back in 1940,” Senator McGovern said.

As he opened hearings on

cancer and diet, Senator McGovern charged that the National Cancer Institute, “knowing that the majority of cancers are preventable, and that many are diet-re-lated,” emphasised treatment and searched for cures rather than prevention. The hearings by the Senate nutrition sub-committee are designed to look at cancer research spending since 1971 when a big drive was launched to find a cure. Senator McGovern noted that since the 1971 act, which called for a cancer cure by 1976, “we have determined that 80 to 90 per cent of cancers are apparently environmentally related. More striking is the discovery that 40 per cent-of the cancers in men and 60 per cent in women are nutri-tion-related.” He linked nutrition to cancer of the breast, colon and rectum, liver, kidney, stomach, and prostate.