Tag Archives: diet

Tea, citrus products could lower ovarian cancer risk, new research finds

The research reveals that women who consume foods containing flavonols and flavanones (both subclasses of dietary flavonoids) significantly decrease their risk of developing epithelial ovarian cancer, the fifth-leading cause of cancer death among women. The research team studied the dietary habits of 171,940 women aged between 25 and 55 for more than three decades. The team found that those who consumed food and drinks high in flavonols (found in tea, red wine, apples and grapes) and flavanones (found in citrus fruit and juices) were less likely to develop the disease. Ovarian cancer affects more than 6,500 women in the UK each year…

Gut microbes turn carbs into colorectal cancer, study shows

“Because hereditary colorectal cancer is associated with aggressive and rapid tumor development, it is critical to understand how major environmental factors such as microbes and diet interact with genetic factors to potentially affect disease progression,” says senior study author Alberto Martin of the University of Toronto. “Our study provides novel insights into this question by showing that gut bacteria interact with a carbohydrate-rich diet to stimulate a prevalent type of hereditary colon cancer.” Carbohydrates account for about half of the daily caloric intake of adults on a western-style diet, and previous studies have linked carbohydrate-rich diets to colorectal cancer in humans. This type of cancer is also frequently associated with mutations in a tumor suppressor gene called APC as well as the MSH2 gene, which plays a critical role in repairing DNA damage…

Most clinical studies on vitamins flawed by poor methodology

Many projects have tried to study nutrients that are naturally available in the human diet the same way they would a powerful prescription drug. This leads to conclusions that have little scientific meaning, even less accuracy and often defy a wealth of other evidence, said Balz Frei, professor and director of the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University, in a new review published in the journal Nutrients. These flawed findings will persist until the approach to studying micronutrients is changed, Frei said. Such changes are needed to provide better, more scientifically valid information to consumers around the world who often have poor diets, do not meet intake recommendations for many vitamins and minerals, and might greatly benefit from something as simple as a daily multivitamin/mineral supplement…

High-fat diet during puberty speeds up breast cancer development

The research comes from the Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Program at Michigan State University and is published in the current online issue of Breast Cancer Research. Utilizing a preclinical model, the findings indicate that before any tumors appear, there are changes in the breast that include increased cell growth and alterations in immune cells. These changes persist into adulthood and can lead to the rapid development of precancerous lesions and ultimately breast cancer. In addition to the accelerated breast cancer development, this type of diet produces a distinct gene signature in the tumors consistent with a subset of breast cancers known as basal-like that can carry a worse prognosis. …

Scientists decipher how the immune system induces liver damage during hepatitis

A study published today in the online edition of The Journal of Clinical Investigation, and carried out by Erwin Wagner’s team, Director of the BBVA Foundation-CNIO Cancer Cell Biology Programme and holder of an ERC Advanced Grant, shows how the immune system ‘attacks’ liver cells during hepatitis by using the AP-1 gene JunB. Latifa Bakiri, one of the study’s authors and a researcher in Wagner’s laboratory details: "The activation of the JunB/AP-1 gene in a subset of immune cells, called NK cells, increases the production of interferon-gamma that attacks liver cells while the organ is suffering from hepatitis." With this discovery, the study’s authors propose a new mechanism by which AP-1 acts as a double-edged sword in the liver: it’s a first line of defence against viruses that cause the disease, but also encourages liver damage depending on the diet or genetics of the patient. …

Debunking myths about how cancer spreads

Can getting a biopsy spread cancer? Internet rumors have been circulating for years linking needle biopsies to spreading cancer. There is no evidence that a needle biopsy, a procedure used to diagnose many types of cancer, causes the cells to spread. "Needle biopsies of early-onset lesions in the breast, thyroid or lung allow us to diagnose cancer often before it has spread," said Dr. …