Day 034 - 11 Oct 94 - Page 14


     
     1        been clearly demonstrated beyond doubt.  It certainly had
     2        not been.  But what it does mean was that these studies
     3        strongly suggest that dietary fat did play a role in the
     4        cause, or does play a role in the cause of cancer,
     5        particularly breast cancer.
     6
     7   MR. MORRIS:  If you just briefly touch on the animal studies,
     8        the conclusions that the Surgeon General has drawn and
     9        whether you agree?
    10        A.  Yes.  Rather than read out everything the Surgeon
    11        General has written, probably every writer who has been
    12        referenced has found that the animal studies show a great
    13        deal of consistency; that when animals are fed high fat
    14        diets they end up with more mammary tumours, not to say
    15        that there have not been many different lines of research
    16        and perhaps different types of fat show a different
    17        relationship.  Fish oils, for example, may show a reduced
    18        or different type of effect from animal fat, but overall
    19        the effect has been very striking and very consistent that
    20        a higher intake of animal fat has led to a higher
    21        incidence of mammary tumours -- by that I mean breast
    22        cancer in animals in laboratories.
    23
    24   Q.   So, the overall picture of all the weight of the evidence
    25        -- and we have only looked at epidemiological studies in
    26        any kind of detail today and animal studies very briefly
    27        -- what is the overall conclusion you draw from the whole
    28        picture of all the sorts of evidence on links between diet
    29        and breast cancer specifically?
    30        A.  Let me back up -- would it be helpful for me to enter
    31        into the record specifically the Surgeon General's own
    32        comments regarding animal studies rather than my own
    33        interpretation?
    34
    35   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I think it would be useful to refer me to
    36        particular parts of what he said about animal studies.
    37        A.  All right.
    38
    39   Q.   I do not think we should neglect what is said under
    40        "Biochemical Mechanisms" either.
    41        A.  Then perhaps I will read into the record on page 197
    42        the paragraph marked "Animal Studies".
    43
    44   Q.   Yes.  You need not read it into the record.  I will read
    45        it all.  In fact, I will read it now and then you can
    46        point out any highlight you want to make.
    47        A.  Perhaps a few points are worth emphasising.  The first
    48        thing is that animal studies are a different line of
    49        research obviously than human epidemiologic studies.
    50        While the point is an obvious one, it is important because 
    51        when people look at smoking or the effects of pollution or 
    52        various other factors that play a role in human beings, 
    53        animal studies are a different methodology.
    54
    55        What the Surgeon General is pointing out in lines three
    56        and four of that paragraph, he points out that the animal
    57        studies indicate that dietary fat could influence
    58        carcinogenesis, meaning the beginnings of cancer, that
    59        these -- quote from his words -- "date back more than half
    60        a century".  In other words, it is not new; it was not

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