Day 033 - 10 Oct 94 - Page 20
1 a high fat diet, regardless of its fibre content, appears
2 to be able to elevate oestrogen levels, which, we presume,
3 is the mechanism by which it is associated with a higher
4 risk of breast cancer.
5
6 Independent of that, increases in fibre do seem to be able
7 to reduce oestrogen levels. I do not know if that answers
8 your question?
9
10 Q. It is helpful to express your view in relation to cancer
11 of the breast and, you would say, of the uterus and
12 ovaries, because that is where your oestrogen element
13 comes in. It would not necessarily be so with relation to
14 cancer of the colon, but we have not come to that yet?
15 A. Yes.
16
17 Q. Perhaps you would bear in mind this enquiry when we do
18 come to cancer of the colons. All I am really inviting
19 you to do -- there is no criticism -- if you mean high in
20 fat and low in fibre, try to remember to put them both
21 together rather than just high in fat; do you understand?
22 A. Yes, I will try to do that.
23
24 MR. MORRIS: Just one point from what you said before. You
25 talked about latent cancers. I think this is in regard to
26 the prostate?
27 A. That is correct.
28
29 Q. Do you want to explain that a little bit?
30 A. Yes. When cancer begins in a cell a variety --
31 several stages follow in sequence. The first stage,
32 called "initiation", means that the cell is no longer a
33 normal cell, but there has been a change in the DNA of
34 that cell, so that it is no longer capable of regulating
35 its growth in a normal way.
36
37 If that cell then continues to grow, it will ultimately
38 become a diagnosable cancer. However, if it does not, if
39 you simply have one or few abnormal cells that are not
40 growing invading neighbouring tissues or spreading to
41 distant sites, one can refer to that as a latent cancer.
42
43 In studies that have looked at fat intake and the
44 incidence of latent prostate cancers, it has been shown
45 that countries that have a higher fat intake -- I am
46 taking care to be more specific here, setting aside the
47 influence of fibre, for example -- those countries that
48 tend to follow high fat diets have a higher incidence of
49 latent cancers. For example, in Sweden a study showed
50 that the incidence of latent cancers in men, I believe,
51 over 45 years of age was -----
52
53 Q. Is this prostate cancer?
54 A. Yes, latent prostate cancers -- the studies are done
55 on men who are killed traumatically or die from some other
56 cause unrelated to prostate disease. Their prostates are
57 examined by researchers who go into the autopsy room and
58 examine the prostate. Men over the age of 45 in Sweden
59 have about a 32 per cent incidence of latent cancers; men
60 in Hong Kong of a similar age, similar circumstances, but
