Day 036 - 13 Oct 94 - Page 34
1 Q. --- is a cause or part of the cause of cancer of the breast
2 and colon in some people.
3 A. When that is put forth by scientists it is in two
4 ways; the first being quite definitively through what
5 I might call a two-step process, such a diet causes
6 obesity or increases the risk of obesity as well as
7 increasing body weight which, in turn, does cause an
8 increase in the risk of breast cancer. That I think would
9 be definitively stated.
10
11 There are other mediating mechanisms which we have
12 discussed as well, including the age of menarche which are
13 quite well accepted. If one simply jumps then to the
14 overall link, the way that is typically put forth, is that
15 there is an association, there is a link. The link is
16 believed to be causal. What is under further
17 investigation is that, indeed, it is causal.
18
19 MR. RAMPTON: I would like you to look at something which is
20 not a prospective or epidemiologic study, please. My
21 Lord, this is one of Professor Crawford's references. It
22 is at line 54 of the two sheets of references which are
23 attached to Professor Crawford's statement. It is a study
24 from 1993. Those references, my Lord, are on pages 11 and
25 12. It is the bottom of page 11.
26
27 MR. JUSTICE BELL: You say this is one of the -----
28
29 MR. RAMPTON: This is one of the ones I handed up this
30 morning. I do not know if the witness is going to be
31 allowed one of these but it is better that he should have
32 one. It comes from a journal called Preventative
33 Medicine, Volume 22, 1993. It is written by Clement Ip,
34 Dr. Ip of the Department of Social Surgical Oncology
35 Buffalo, New York. Is that a well-known centre of cancer
36 research?
37 A. Yes.
38
39 Q. It is, is it not? I am going to read the headnote
40 abstract, or whatever you call it. "Epidemiological
41 evidence from different countries worldwide ----"
42 A. Roswell Park is known primarily for cancer treatment.
43
44 Q. That is what surgeons call "oncology" is, it not?
45 A. Yes, taking tumours out.
46
47 Q. Dr. Ip, this is not the first time that he has ventured
48 into print on matters of this kind, is it, Dr. Barnard?
49 A. I am not sure of the degree which he has published.
50
51 Q. For example, in 1987 he published a paper on the
52 inhibitary effects of omega 3 acids in tumourigenesis.
53 This appears to have been a piece of experimental work on
54 animals: "Epidemiological evidence from different
55 countries worldwide has suggested a positive association
56 between the availability of fat in the diet and variations
57 breast cancer mortality rate. A voluminous amount of
58 information is also available in the literature linking
59 increased fat consumption, particularly polyunsaturated
60 fat, and stimulation of mammary tumourigenesis in animal
