Actually Term Cancer - Essay Example

Recently conducted international research (The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition) demonstrated that the majority of UK citizens have risks of cancer related to an unhealthy diet. Ethnical differences were recorded amongst various national and religious communities nevertheless some common features were determined. Thus vegetarians (Davey et al., 2003) had lower blood levels of long-chain fatty acids and a lower prevalence of obesity (Key et al., 1996; Spencer et al., 2003).

There was no approval that diet content can influence the rate of sex hormones and, consequently, the risk of occurrence of such cancers as cancer of the prostate (in males) and breast cancer (in females). Thus high intake of soy foods was not associated with blood sex hormone levels in women (Verkasalo et al, 2001) or men (Allen et al, 2001).

Currently, the traditional British diet is characterised by a high intake of white bread/refined cereals, butter and other margarine, tea and sugar/confectionery; moderately high intake of cakes/pastries, puddings, high-fat dairy products and meat ham/bacon, potatoes and vegetables and low intake of wholegrain cereals and pasta/rice and zero for low-fat dairy products, polyunsaturated spreads, wholegrain cereals, pasta/rice, fish/shellfish, fruit juices, and liqueurs/wines/spirits (Pryer et al., 2001). You can see that not all elements of this product are constituents of a healthy diet. There is evidence that Muslim, Indian and Chinese diasporas consume more fruits and less fatty food than the native British community.

The modern approaches to dietary management of cancer could be described as follows: increase of fruit and vegetable intake (enriching diet with food rich in antioxidants and food fibre), refusal of fatty food and sweets (low-calorie diet), restriction of protein in the diet and switch from red meat to seafood (Giacosa et al., 1994).

Davies et al. (2006) conducted a systematic review of randomized controlled trials to examine the effect of nutritional interventions on patients with cancer or pre-invasive lesions. They determined no evidence of an association between the use of antioxidants or retinol supplements and all-cause mortality. Authors suggest “there is no evidence that dietary modification by cancer patients improves survival and benefits disease prognosis” (p. 961).

Nevertheless, many authors report more optimistic data about the expedience of dietary management of cancer risk. Thus, Lee et al. (2006) found that green tea can decrease the risk of prostate cancer. Aggarwal & Shishodia (2006) consider that fruit and vegetables are an important source of anti-cancer agents including (turmeric), resveratrol (red grapes, peanuts and berries), genistein (soybean), diallyl sulfide (allium), S-allyl cysteine (allium), allicin (garlic), lycopene (tomato), capsaicin (red chilli), diosgenin (fenugreek), 6-gingerol (ginger), ellagic acid (pomegranate), ursolic acid (apple, pears, prunes), silymarin (milk thistle), anethol (anise, camphor, and fennel), catechins (green tea), eugenol (cloves), indole-3-carbinol (cruciferous vegetables), limonene (citrus fruits), beta carotene (carrots), and dietary fibre (all plant-based food). Some authors reported the association between high calcium intake and low risk of colorectal cancer (Fleet, 2006; Kallay et al., 2003 etc), others found the dependence of its occurrence in food fibre intake (Chuwa & Seow-Choen, 2006).

Fenton & Hord (2006) wrote that the anti-cancer efficacy of dietary factors is stage-dependent. By the opinion of Skuladottir et al. (2006), a high intake of fruit and vegetables might have a favourable effect on the prognosis of lung cancer patients while a high intake of potatoes appears to increase the hazard of dying. Williams & Hord (2005) recommend fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, and low-fat dairy products to all people at risk for cancer and cardiovascular disease. Collins (2005) considers dietary antioxidant intervention as a key point of cancer prevention. Italian researchers (Gallus et al., 2005) determined apples as the best choice in the preventive anti-cancer diet.

Cooke et al. (2005) found that the protective role of fruits and berries could be related to anthocyanins – powerful antioxidants. Many publications contain data about the importance of soy food for cancer prevention. Nevertheless, some authors have not determined the association between soybean intake and cancer morbidity/mortality.

Another important issue of clinical dieting amongst cancer patients is related to their increased requirements for essential nutrients. Recovery after surgery or chemotherapy or radiotherapy requires a balanced diet with an optimum intake of vitamins and mineral salts ( ). By the data provided by Tian & Chen (2005) increasing the times of meals a day and having high-protein, high-calorie foods can improve the nutritional status of stomach cancer patients. Similar data were reported by Tavasco et al. (2005). There is interesting that many authors recommend low-calorie diet for the prevention of cancer (Fleming et al., 2005).

The list of anti-cancer food is long and many included items are still the subject of scientific discussion. Nevertheless, most researchers recommend consuming more vegetables (especially broccoli, Brussel sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, eggplant, green beans, kale, red onion, peppers, radishes, soybean, squash, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, yams).

Amongst fruits, the top positions were given to apricots, blueberries, grapefruit, grapes, lemons, mangoes, oranges, papayas, peaches, persimmons, strawberries and tangerines (Giacosa et al., 1994). Nevertheless, further research is required to justify the role of a dietary factor in the preventive and curative strategies of cancer management.