Day 256 - 04 Jun 96 - Page 60
1 contributed, too. So that is why I use the word
2 "aggregate".
3
4 MR. RAMPTON: I was interested in your observation that it is a
5 consensus. I understand it is your view. This is perhaps
6 not a very fair question. Who is of same view as you?
7 Plainly, Professor Willett is not; he does not believe that
8 fat is causative of breast cancer, does he?
9 A. He has taken a position almost by himself amongst, say,
10 in the field, in saying that, and he says it sometimes
11 rather publicly, that that is not related to breast cancer;
12 he has said that. However, that study comes from, or his
13 comments come from his own study, primarily, the Nurses
14 Health Study, where his examination of the dietary fat
15 relationship with breast cancer, as we discussed before, is
16 in a very narrow range. It is basically comparing women
17 consuming high fat diets with women consuming very high fat
18 diets, where the relationship might have existed tends to
19 disappear, as I was explaining before. He has added this
20 new paper that you have here in the material where they
21 compare seven different cohorts, and again has concluded
22 that it is unlikely that fat intake is related to breast
23 cancer. But, as I pointed out before, it is a rather
24 incomplete analysis.
25
26 But I must say that I do not find -- and I can say that
27 with some authority -- that he is a bit on the fringe when
28 he says that sort of thing.
29
30 Q. I see. I take it you probably know as a matter of fact,
31 since Dr. Peto is one of your collaborators, you probably
32 know Sir Richard Doll, do you not?
33 A. Yes.
34
35 Q. Can I ask you to find in the bottom shelf behind you an
36 orange-backed file, numbered (iv)?
37
38 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Mr. Riley will get it for you. It is a
39 separate bundle, which Mr. Riley will get for you.
40 A. Sorry, your Honour, what section?
41
42 MR. RAMPTON: It is divided into two halves numbered, logically,
43 1 and 2. If you turn to the second half of the file,
44 please, and to tab 16.
45
46 MS. STEEL: We have got 1, 2, 3, but I do not know whether that
47 means -----
48
49 MR. RAMPTON: I do not know. Have you got there an article on
50 cancer research in colon oncology?
51 A. Yes, I do.
52
53 Q. It is a guest editorial by Sir Richard Doll. The only bit
54 I would like you to look at is over the page, the little
55 448 at the top of the left-hand column, under the heading
56 "Dietary Factors".
57 A. Yes.
58
59 Q. It says: "That dietary factors are important, particularly
60 perhaps in producing cancers of the stomach, large bowel
