Cancer Experts Urge Congress to Appropriate $1 Billion for Nutrition Education

http://www.nbc26.com/news/health/6773042.html

The Cancer Project Letters Urge Bipartisan Approach to National Emergency
(BI) Keahn Gary
WASHINGTON -- In the wake of recent announcements from Tony Snow and Elizabeth Edwards about the return of their cancers, a national cancer organization is calling on Congress to work in a bipartisan manner to appropriate $1 billion to educate the public about the role healthy plant-based diets can play in cancer survival and prevention.In letters sent today to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and House Republican Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, Cancer Project managing director Lauray MacElhern urged Democrats and Republicans to implement a major new initiative dedicating $1 billion for public service announcements and other tools to support healthy food choices."The tragic news about Elizabeth Edwards and Tony Snow highlights the terrible toll of this disease," says MacElhern."It's time for action. Decades of research have shown that diet changes reduce the risk of many cancers, yet this message is largely lost on the American public. And a growing body of research shows that nutrition can help prevent recurrence. Congress must help get this critical information into the public's hands."Just last week, a major study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute showed that high-fat diets significantly increase breast cancer risk in post-menopausal women. Research has shown that people who regularly eat red or processed meat are up to 50 percent more likely to develop colon cancer than those who avoid meat, and a crossover study last year in Cancer Research confirmed that a plant-based diet can play a key role in cancer prevention.Early results from two major studies -- the Women's Healthy Eating and Living study and the Women's Intervention Nutrition study -- show that women diagnosed with breast cancer can reduce their risk of recurrence by making diet changes."This information is known to scientists, but largely unknown to the public," Ms. MacElhern says.The Cancer Project is a collaborative effort of physicians, researchers, and nutritionists who have joined together to educate the public about the benefits of a healthy diet for cancer prevention and survival. Based in Washington, D.C., The Cancer Project is an affiliate of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.

Low-cal ketogenic diet slows brain cancer in mice

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070329/hl_nm/ketogenic_diet_dc_1

By Will Boggs, MDThu Mar 29, 12:34 PM ET
A calorically restricted ketogenic diet decreases the growth of malignant brain tumors in laboratory mice, according to an online report in the journal Nutrition & Metabolism.
A ketogenic diet is a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet that induces excess production of ketone bodies, which are incompletely burned fat molecules. This diet has been used to control epileptic seizures that do not respond to drug treatment.
"In contrast to most conventional brain tumor therapies, which are largely ineffective, are excessively costly, and can diminish the length and quality of life, the calorically restricted ketogenic diet is a natural therapeutic approach to brain cancer management that is based on the principles of evolutionary biology and metabolic control theory," Dr. Thomas N. Seyfried told Reuters Health.
Seyfried and associates at Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts evaluated the efficacy of KetoCal, a ketogenic diet formulated to treat unresponsive epilepsy in children, in mice implanted with a malignant mouse brain tumor and a human malignant glioma, a brain tumor that responds poorly to drug therapy.
The mice were fed a regular, high-carbohydrate diet, unlimited amounts of KetoCal, or restricted amounts of KetoCal.
Growth of the two tumors was reduced from 35 percent to 65 percent in mice given restricted KetoCal, compared with mice receiving normal or KetoCal diets that were unrestricted, the researchers report.
Survival was also significantly longer among mice receiving the restricted KetoCal diet, the results indicate.
Blood sugar levels were significantly lower and circulating ketone bodies significantly higher in mice fed the restricted KetoCal diet, the researchers note.
The restricted KetoCal diet starves the brain cancer cells by removing molecules needed for cell growth and survival. While the normal brain cells are sustained by ketones, the tumor cells can't metabolize ketones.
This mouse study was motivated in part by the previous work of Linda Nebeling and co-workers who showed that a calorie-restricted ketogenic diet was effective for the long-term treatment of brain cancer in children, Seyfried explained. "Our work in mice strongly supports the original study."
He concludes that it is important that human trials begin soon to study the effect of the calorically restricted ketogenic diet on brain cancer. "These trials could be conducted at any medical center or clinic currently using the ketogenic diet as a therapy for refractory epileptic seizures."
SOURCE: Nutrition & Metabolism, February 21, 2007.