paywalled: Meat and fish consumption and risk of pancreatic cancer – results from the european prospective investigation into cancer and nutrition - International Journal of Cancer

Blogger's Note: implications for all cancers/research

Meat and fish consumption and risk of pancreatic cancer – results from the european prospective investigation into cancer and nutrition - Rohrmann - International Journal of Cancer

Conclusion:

Our results do not support the conclusion of the World Cancer Research Fund that red or processed meat consumption may possibly increase the risk of pancreatic cancer. The positive association of poultry consumption with pancreatic cancer might be a chance finding as it contradicts most previous findings.

Nutrition and physical activity guidelines for cancer survivors - 2012 - CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians

Nutrition and physical activity guidelines for cancer survivors - 2012 - CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians

26 APR 2012 - Nutrition and physical activity guidelines for cancer survivors - CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians - Wiley Online Library

Nutrition and physical activity guidelines for cancer survivors - CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians 

".... After receiving a diagnosis of cancer, survivors soon find there are few clear answers to even the simplest questions, such as: Should I change what I eat? Should I exercise more? Should I gain or lose weight? Should I take dietary supplements? Cancer survivors receive a wide range of advice from many sources about foods they should eat, foods they should avoid, how they should exercise, and what types of supplements they should take, if any. Unfortunately, this advice is often inconsistent and not supported by data...."

Ovarian Cancer

Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death from gynecologic malignancies in the United States.4 Symptoms tend be nonspecific, making early detection difficult. Consequently, most ovarian cancers are diagnosed at an advanced stage when the prognosis is poor, with an overall 10-year survival rate of 39%.4 The role of lifestyle factors in ovarian cancer prognosis is largely unknown.138, 242 To our knowledge, only 3 studies139, 140, 243 have evaluated the role of dietary factors in ovarian cancer survival. These 3 studies were based on prospective follow-up of the cases participating in case-control studies and evaluated the association between prediagnosis dietary intake and mortality outcomes. One study, conducted in China, focused on the role of green tea and reported that a higher frequency and quantity of green tea intake after diagnosis was associated with better survival.243 The other 2 studies, conducted in Australia140 and the United States,139 suggested that prediagnosis dietary intake may influence the survival experience of patients with ovarian cancer. Both studies tended to support the association of fruit and vegetable consumption with better survival. Dairy food intake was associated with poorer survival in one of the studies,140 while in the other, only milk consumption and not total dairy food consumption was inversely associated with survival.139 Meat consumption was associated with better survival in the Australian study,140 and with lower survival in the study conducted in the United States.139 While these studies controlled for most relevant covariates, they did not include treatment information. In addition, these studies did not evaluate dietary intake after diagnosis. However, they do suggest that dietary intake may influence ovarian cancer survival and warrant further research in this area.

Only one study, also following cases in a case-control study for mortality, has evaluated the role of physical activity in ovarian cancer survival.244 Prediagnosis physical activity was ascertained as hours per week for 3 life periods (childhood, between ages 18-30 years, and in recent years). The study also evaluated the role of changes in physical activity over time. There was not much indication of an association with survival for any of these variables, except for physical activity at aged 18 to 30 years, which seemed to be associated with better survival for women with early stage ovarian cancer and with worse survival for women with an advanced stage of disease at diagnosis.245

The relationship between excess weight and ovarian cancer survival has been evaluated by relatively few studies. Obesity may affect ovarian cancer survival by having a negative impact on optimal surgical and cytotoxic treatment and increasing the likelihood of postoperative complications.246 Overall, the literature evaluating the association between weight/BMI and ovarian cancer survival is limited and inconclusive.76, 242 Cohort studies evaluating the role of prediagnosis obesity obtained at baseline on ovarian cancer mortality have generally found elevated ovarian cancer mortality among obese women.234, 247 Other studies evaluating the role of prediagnosis BMI on ovarian cancer survival by following cases in a case-control study or clinical trial (using baseline data) have offered conflicting results.242 The role of postdiagnosis body size and weight changes on ovarian cancer survival is largely unknown. Only one study has reported on weight changes during chemotherapy and ovarian cancer survival and found that, among patients with advanced ovarian cancer, weight loss during chemotherapy was associated with worse prognosis; however, it is difficult to determine whether this weight loss was involuntary or intentional.248

In summary, while the current evidence is limited and inconclusive, it points to a possible role of dietary factors, physical activity, and body size and weight changes in modulating ovarian cancer survival, and for physical activity in improving the quality of life among ovarian cancer survivors. Further studies are needed before public health recommendations can be made.

American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR): 2012 Research Conference on Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity and Cancer

2012 AICR Annual Research Conference
on Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity and Cancer

November 1-2 / Washington, DC

About the Conference:

This conference is a unique forum that brings together researchers and clinicians for a two-day program that is dedicated to increasing knowledge, stimulating research and promoting prevention and treatment of cancer through nutrition, physical activity and weight management.

Who Should Attend:

Basic scientists, clinical investigators, epidemiologists, dietitians, nutritionists, policy makers and other health professionals interested in food, nutrition, physical activity and weight management in relation to cancer.

open access: The nutritional risk in oncology: a study of 1,453 cancer outpatients

 "In 2003, during a scientific meeting in Milan, which involved both oncologists and nutritionists, it was clearly appreciated that there was a substantial discrepancy of view between these specialists as regard the impact that malnutrition might have on the outcome of the cancer patient and the potential role of the nutritional support. As a consequence, an open working group was constituted with the aim of steering a protocol to prospectively screen the nutritional status of the oncologic outpatients (hence the acronym SCRINIO, that is SCReenIng the Nutritional status In Oncology)."


"...Such a percentage of nutritionally at risk outpatients is especially remarkable and worrisome when considering that patients able to attend an ambulatory consultation or therapy should represent a favourably selected segment of the cancer population..."

Table 1 Patient distribution according to demographic and disease characteristics
Table 2 Mean NRS score and percentage of patients with nutritional risk (NRS score ≥3), according to main patients’ characteristics
Table 3 Frequency of patients at nutritional risk (NRS score ≥3), estimated by the multivariable logistic model

new open access journal section: Introducing the Nutrition & Metabolism section of Journal of Translational Medicine

Editorial

Introducing the Nutrition & Metabolism section of Journal of Translational Medicine

Laura Soldati, Elena Dogliotti, Irene Camera and Annalisa Terranegra

Journal of Translational Medicine 2012, 10:17 doi:10.1186/1479-5876-10-17
Published: 30 January 2012

Abstract (provisional)

Our food should be our medicine. Our medicine should be our food Hippocrates (460 BC - 377 BC) Nutrition experts, as well as specialists of different pathologies, are disclosing an ever increasing interest for protocols devoted to the welfare of patients and to prevention of nutrition related diseases.

abstract: Nutritional intervention for improving treatment tolerance in cancer patients

Summary:

Supplementation with ω3 fatty acids appears to offer benefits that are verifiable at a biochemical, clinical and functional level. Related literature, however, provides conflicting results; therefore further studies will be required to confirm their efficacy.

Supplementation with glutamine appears to support the efficacy of chemoradiotherapy treatment while reducing toxicity of the tissues and improving outcomes. Oral supplementation with branched amino acid appears to reduce the length of hospital stay, decrease morbidity and improve the quality of life, without any changes in mortality. Perioperative supplementation with arginine has shown a reduced incidence of complications and a significant increase in long-term survival.

Session Overviews Pharma-Nutrition 2011 Conference Netherlands conference notice/program

Consumption of dietary fat and meat and risk of ovarian cancer - the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Design: The NLCS includes 62,573 postmenopausal women, aged 55–69 y at baseline, who completed a baseline questionnaire on dietary habits and other risk factors for cancer in 1986. After 16.3 y of follow-up, 340 ovarian cancer cases and 2161 subcohort members were available for a case-cohort analysis. Multivariable rate ratios (RRs) were adjusted for age at baseline, total energy intake, oral contraceptive use, and parity

American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR): AICR Cancer Research Conference Oct 21/22, Washington, DC

Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity and Cancer
October 21 & 22, 2010 | Capital Hilton Hotel, Washington, DC

Who Should Attend

Basic scientists, clinical investigators, epidemiologists, dietitians, nutritionists, policy makers and other health professionals interested in food, nutrition, physical activity and weight management in relation to cancer.

Editorial: Dietary Assessment and the Reliability of Nutritional Epidemiology Research Reports

".......The fact that Dahm et al. could not correct the fiber consumption odds ratios for these types of systematic biases casts a shadow over the interpretation of their reported inverse association.

Unfortunately, this shadow extends to virtually the entire body of the existing nutritional epidemiology literature and may well contribute to the fact that few associations between diet and cancer are regarded as established or probable (8).

The explicit use of biomarkers to correct nutritional epidemiology associations for systematic and random measurement error in dietary assessment seems a logical next step in the nutritional epidemiology research agenda..." cont'd