This report suggests useful directions for research into the relationship between diet, nutrition, and cancer. From the beginning of its study, the committee was cognizant of the widely held belief among scientists that research is most vigorous when it is the product of individual choices by investigators, rather than the result of a preconceived strategy. However, when research has an important and defined practical objective, the committee believes that there is justification for concentrating a part of the overall research effort on questions that are recognized to be central to further progress toward that objective. In approaching its task, the committee adopted the strategy described in the following paragraphs.

Contents

• Committee on Diet, Nutrition, and Cancer
• Preface
• 1. Overview and Major Recommendations
  • Strategic Objectives and Priorities for Research
• 2. Approach to the Study
• 3. Diet and the Mechanisms of Carcinogenesis
  • Research Recommendations.
• 4. Epidemiological Methods
  • Research Recommendations
• 5. Laboratory Methods
  • Methods for Identifying Dietary Initiators and Modifiers of Carcinogenesis
  • Methods for Assessing the Effects of Nutrients on Carcinogenesis.
  • Methods for Identifying Markers Related to Neoplasia in Humans
  • Research Recommendations
• 6. Macroconstituents
  • Fats
  • Protein.
  • Carbohydrates
  • Dietary Fiber
  • Alcohol
  • Total Caloric Intake
  • Research Recommendations
• 7. Vitamins, Minerals, and Nonnutritive Inhibitors of Carcinogenesis
  • Vitamins, Carotenes, and Retinoids
  • Selenium and Other Trace Minerals
  • Nonnutritive Inhibitors of Carcinogenesis
  • General Research Recommendations
  • Specific Research Recommendations
• 8. Food Additives, Contaminants, Carcinogens, and Mutagens
  • Research Recommendations
• 9. Consumer Behavior.
  • Research Recommendations
• References
• Appendix A. Committee on Diet, Nutrition, and Cancer—Affiliations and Major Research Interests
• Appendix B. Acknowledgments

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the Councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.

This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.

The National Research Council was established by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and of advising the federal government. The Council operates in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy under the authority of its Congressional charter of 1863, which establishes the Academy as a private, nonprofit, self-governing membership corporation. The Council has become the principal operating agency for both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in the conduct of their services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. It is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. The National Academy of Engineering and the Institute of Medicine were established in 1964 and 1970, respectively, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences.