Day 254 - 22 May 96 - Page 38
1 you think that that is unlikely because that mechanism is
2 not found in the liver?
3 A. Correct.
4
5 Q. The mechanism which would damage the endothelium which
6 would enable the cancerous cells to stick to it does not
7 happen in the liver and does not happen often in the lungs
8 and yet they are common sights of cancer?
9 A. That is correct, yes, my Lord.
10
11 Q. No doubt grossly over simplified but that is your
12 reasoning; is it?
13 A. Indeed, yes.
14
15 Q. Yes. There we are. I will hear what Professor Crawford
16 says.
17
18 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, if anybody wants the reference, it is 5th
19 October 1994 from page 25 onwards to about the end of 26.
20 It is a couple of pages.
21
22 MS. STEEL: Can I say that it is also in his statement.
23
24 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes. As I have been speaking, I have been
25 looking at pages 8 and 9 of his second statement.
26
27 MS. STEEL: Right.
28
29 MR. JUSTICE BELL: What I suggest is we will break there until 2
30 o'clock and, in fact, I will have a look at those two
31 pages.
32
33 MR. RAMPTON: There may be more but those are the two.
34
35 MR. JUSTICE BELL: There might be.
36
37 (Luncheon adjournment)
38
39 MS. STEEL: Do you know of a country where the average diet is
40 high in fat, i.e. greater than 35 per cent of the dietary
41 energy, and yet has a low incidence of colon, breast and
42 prostate cancer?
43 A. Well, there are two countries that immediately come to
44 mind, one is Spain and one is Greece.
45
46 Q. Right. We have been through that previously. Can you
47 think of any of them other than the ones where the high fat
48 intake is because of olive oil, which is considered in some
49 quarters to have a protective effect?
50 A. I am afraid off-hand I cannot think of anything.
51
52 Q. Right. Can you think of a country where the opposite is
53 true, i.e. that there is a low fat intake of less than 15
54 per cent and yet there is high mortality from breast and
55 colon cancer?
56 A. Again, I cannot off the top of my head think of any
57 countries such as that.
58
59 Q. You said that recent papers show how difficult it is to be
60 certain about diet and cancer, but despite this would you
