A recent study has purportedly found that “high levels of glucose in the diet of mice with cancer is linked to increased expression of mutant p53 genes,” raising questions about the effect of a high-sugar diet on tumor growth. Olga Catalina Rodriguez, et al., “Dietary downregulation of mutant p53 levels via glucose restriction: Mechanisms and implications for tumor therapy,” Cell Cycle, November 2012. According to a concurrent Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) press release, normal p53 acts as a tumor suppressor but mutant p53 acts as an oncogene, with high levels of expression “linked to cancer aggressiveness, resistance to therapy, worse outcomes and even relapse after therapy.” The five-year study apparently examined how glucose restriction (GR) affected autophagy—the degradation of dysfunctional proteins—in cultured cells and tumor growth in animal models. The first experiments not only suggested that GR helped eliminate p53 mutant proteins via autophagy, but that transgenic mice fed a…
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A California appeals court has determined that the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) may not add styrene or vinyl acetate to the Proposition 65 (Prop. 65) list of chemicals known to the state to cause cancer because they have been identified as “possible” but not known carcinogens. Styrene Info. & Research Ctr. v. OEHHA, No. C064301 (Cal. Ct. App., 3d Dist., decided October 31, 2012). Styrene is used in food packaging. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) had categorized the substances as Group 2b chemicals, which are “possibly” carcinogenic to humans, based on less than sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity in experimental animals. The court acknowledged that the California Health and Safety Code requires that the Prop. 65 list contain “at a minimum, the substances identified by reference in Labor Code section 6382, subdivision (d),” which addresses “hazardous substances” that extend “beyond those that cause cancer or…
Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWM) has reportedly walked back a recent study claiming to link aspartame with an increased risk of leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and other blood-related cancers. Published ahead of print in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the study analyzed diet data from more than 77,000 women and 47,000 men enrolled in the Nurses’ Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. The results apparently suggested “a positive association between diet soda and total aspartame intake and risks of NHL and multiple myeloma in men and leukemia in both men and women,” although “[a] higher consumption of regular sugar-sweetened soda was associated with higher risk of NHL and multiple myeloma in men but not in women.” Eva Schernhammer, et al., “Consumption of artificial sweetener—and sugar-containing soda and risk of lymphoma and leukemia in men and women,” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, October 2012. But BWH has since cast…
Researchers using data for nearly 500,000 men and women participating in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study have purportedly found that coffee consumption is “inversely associated with colon cancer, particularly proximal tumors.” Rashmi Sinha, “Caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee and tea intakes and risks of colorectal cancer in a large prospective study,” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, June 13, 2012. Ninety percent of the cohort drank coffee, and 16 percent consumed more than four cups per day. “Compared with nondrinkers, heavy coffee drinkers (≥6 cups/d) were more likely to be men, current smokers, and physically inactive and consumed more red meat and alcohol but less fruit and vegetables.” Heavy coffee drinkers also apparently consumed predominantly caffeinated coffee. According to the researchers, “there was an inverse association between individuals who drank 4-5 cups coffee/d compared with nondrinkers with colon cancer (HR: 0.85; 95%, CI: 0.75, 0.96), and the association was even stronger…
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a final rule that amends regulations about concentrations of compounds of carcinogenic concern in the diet of food-producing animals and residues of carcinogenic concern in specific edible tissues. The changes clarify certain definitions “to enable the Center for Veterinary Medicine to consider allowing the use of alternative procedures to satisfy the DES [Diethylstilbestrol] Proviso without requiring the development of a second, alternative, set of terminology.” The changes take effect September 21, 2012. Among other matters, the amendment will change the existing emphasis in 21 CFR Part 500 on “no significant increase in the risk of cancer to the human consumer” to an emphasis on “the specific 1 in 1 million risk of cancer to the test animals approach.” See Federal Register, August 22, 2012.
A California court has reportedly dismissed claims filed by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) against fast-food chains, finding that the group failed to investigate its allegations before suing under Proposition 65 (Prop. 65). PCRM v. McDonald’s Corp., No. BC383722; PCRM v. KFC Corp., No. BC457193 (Cal. Super. Ct., Los Angeles Cty., decided August 15, 2012). Filed in 2008 and 2011, the suits alleged that the restaurants failed to warn consumers that their grilled chicken menu items contain PhIP, a chemical known to the state to cause cancer. Yet, PCRM did not apparently visit the restaurants until February 2012 to take pictures of the posted warnings. The restaurants reportedly post notices that some of their products contain cancer-causing chemicals and refer customers to nutritional brochures for additional details. They contend that their warnings comply with Prop. 65. Information about similar litigation filed in San Francisco County appears in Issue…
A recent study has reportedly claimed that bisphenol A (BPA) alters mammary gland development in rhesus monkeys, raising concerns about the chemical’s alleged link to breast cancer in humans. Andrew Tharp, et al., “Bisphenol A alters the development of the rhesus monkey mammary gland,” PNAS, May 2012. According to the study, researchers fed fruit containing 400 µg of BPA per kilogram of body weight to pregnant rhesus monkeys to achieve BPA serum levels “comparable to [those] found in humans.” The authors then examined the mammary glands of female offspring after birth, noting that “the density of mammary glands was significantly increased in BPA-exposed monkeys, and the overall development of their mammary gland was more advanced compared with unexposed monkeys.” Based on these results, one study author told media sources that the sum of scientific evidence suggests that BPA is also “a breast carcinogen in humans” and that its use should be…
New research conducted by Morando Soffritti, director of the Ramazzini Institute in Bologna, Italy, has allegedly found that male mice systematically dosed with sucralose throughout their life cycles were more likely to develop a specific type of cancer. Presented at the April 25 childhood Cancer 2012 Conference in London, the research evidently relied on 843 mice and appeared to identify a dose-dependent relationship between sucralose consumption and leukemia in male mice only. “Health concerns over aspartame are leading consumers to switch to the widely promoted alternative: sucralose,” said Soffritti, who has long lobbied European regulators to take aspartame off the market. “Now that we have found evidence of a link between sucralose and cancer in mice, similar research should be urgently repeated on rats, and large-scale observational studies should be set up to monitor any potential cancer risk to human health.” See Childhood Cancer 2012 Press Release, April 25, 2012. Meanwhile,…
A recent study has purportedly found that “neither caffeinated nor decaffeinated coffee was associated with an increased risk of total chronic disease, CVD [cardiovascular disease], or cancer,” according to a concurrent editorial published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Anna Floegel, “Coffee Consumption and Risk of Chronic Disease in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-Germany Study,” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, April 2012. Researchers analyzed data from medical followups and food frequency questionnaires gathered from 42,659 participants in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)- Germany, reporting the effects of coffee on overall health. The results not only failed to reveal a link between coffee and chronic disease, but suggested that the beverage may be associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes. “The association between coffee consumption and risk of chronic disease is of considerable relevance because coffee is consumed worldwide and any…
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) has issued a workshop summary examining the role of obesity in cancer survival and recurrence. Held October 31-November 1, 2011, by IOM’s National Cancer Policy Forum, the workshop included presentations from experts on “the latest laboratory and clinical evidence on the obesity-cancer link and the possible mechanisms underlying that link.” Participants also discussed clinical interventions to mitigate the purported effects of obesity on cancer, as well as “research and policy measures needed to counteract the expected rise of cancer incidence mortality due to an increasingly overweight and older population.” In particular, the workshop explored “the complex web of molecular mechanisms that underlie the obesity-cancer link and whether it is obesity itself, the energy imbalance that leads to obesity, or the molecular pathways that are deregulated due to obesity, that lead to increased risk of cancer initiation or progression.” The group also considered more policy-specific research…
