Breast Cancer Debate - Brief Article

Vegetarian Times, March, 1999 by Ronni Sandroff

`When it comes to prevention, can diet really make a difference?

The Breast Cancer Prevention Diet (Little, Brown, 1998), by NBC-TV's chief medical correspondent Bob Arnot, M.D., isn't on everybody's best-seller list, It's been "denounced" by the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH), a New York City-based, doctor-run consumer education group that takes a mainstream approach to medicine and frequently warns the public against jumping the gun on preliminary research findings.

Arnot interviewed the top breast cancer researchers in the country and pulled together the latest scientific research that shows nutrition is emerging as a key component in not only preventing breast cancer but also avoiding a recurrence of the disease.

But according to the ACSH, many of Arnot's breast cancer prevention guidelines are "premature adaptations from animal laboratory studies or preliminary human studies." The group has expressed "profound concern about the misleading, unscientific and speculative advice that Arnot offers to women." Plus, the organization is concerned that women who opt to follow Arnot's advice may neglect well-established precautionary measures like breast exams and mammograms, which are still the best bets for early, potentially lifesaving breast cancer detection.

However, Arnot--whose book is focused on prevention, not early detection--endorses both precautions; he's simply more focused on helping women have nothing to detect in the first place. Given the outrage, you'd think Arnot was touting a radical, ineffective approach. But his diet and supplement recommendations (see box) are actually very similar to those that holistic physicians, such as Dean Ornish, M.D., promote to prevent heart disease, diabetes and other cancers.

To his credit, Arnot has been upfront about the fact that his dietary recommendations--all designed to keep us lean and more resistant to disease--have not yet been proven effective in large human clinical trials. "A fully tested breast cancer prevention diet is a decade away," he writes, noting that conclusive results take years to compile and that the government tends to fund only studies that focus on a single change, such as a low-fat diet, rather than a comprehensive program. Arnot hopes women will be able to use the evidence that's now available from epidemiological, animal and laboratory studies to get a head start on prevention and incorporate new changes as more evidence is gathered.

The Breast Cancer Prevention Diet is a provocative book that offers today's best guess about tomorrow's prevention advice. Just keep in mind that when Arnot says research is preliminary, he means it.

RELATED ARTICLE: The Bob Arnot Breast Cancer Prevention Plan

* Maintain appropriate body weight; obese women have a higher risk of breast cancer

* Limit intake of saturated fats (from animal products) and polyunsaturated fats (from safflower and corn oils)

* Limit starches and sugars to lower insulin and body weight levels

* Limit alcohol intake

* Increase intake of soy and flaxseed

* Increase dietary fiber

* Increase antioxidant vegetables (especially garlic, kale, spinach, brussels sprouts, alfalfa sprouts, broccoli) and fruits (especially strawberries, plums)

* Exercise. "It's such a powerful preventive factor that if it were a drug, it would be considered a major breakthrough," says Arnot.