Cancer-fat link disputed

Press, 5 January 1987, Page 4

Cancer-fat link disputed

NZPA-AP Boston Low-fat diets, widely recommended as a means of preventing breast cancer, fail to protect women from this common killer, a big new study concludes. If true the finding means there apparently is no practical way for women to protect themselves from breast cancer, a disease that strikes one of every II American women.

“Within this study there is really no support for an association between dietary fat and breast cancer,” said Dr Walter Willett, of Harvard Medical School.

Dr Willett’s study, based on the eating habits of nearly 90,000 nurses, found that those on relatively high-fat diets had less breast cancer, if anything, than those whose eating habits mirrored the low-fat recommendations of the National Cancer Institute and other organisations.

However, Dr Willett said that even if a low-fat diet did not stop breast cancer, avoiding fat was still wise, because this could reduce the risk of heart disease. Women could also improve their odds of surviv-

ing breast cancer by regularly examining their breasts and having mammograms to catch the disease early. Dr Willett’s research, published in the “New England Journal of Medicine,” disputes an idea that has been widely held in recent years.