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
