Day 035 - 12 Oct 94 - Page 18
1 country's National Cancer Institute, is in very guarded
2 terms, is it not?
3 A. I would not describe it in that way, no.
4
5 Q. Put it another way: It does not assert a causal
6 relationship between a diet high in fat and low in fibre
7 and cancer of the colon and rectum, does it?
8 A. I believe my reading is different from yours. To my
9 reading, there is very abundant evidence that a diet high
10 in fat and low in fibre -- let me say that clearly -- a
11 diet high in fat and low in fibre and also, one might say,
12 a diet that is high in meat products, contributes to a
13 risk of colon cancer, just as cigarette exposure
14 contributes to a risk of lung cancer. But just as there
15 is a great deal of lack of clarity as to how inhaling
16 tobacco smoke causes the cells in the lung tissue to
17 become cancerous, there is still uncertainty as to how a
18 high-fat/low-fibre meat based diet increases the risk of
19 colon cancer. Many mechanisms have been proposed and
20 there is a substantial body of evidence supporting them
21 and one would hope that continued research will be done on
22 them.
23
24 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I will not disregard the answer, but it was
25 not an answer to the question you were asked. What you
26 were asked, firstly, was whether that document from the
27 NCI was in very guarded terms and you said you would not
28 describe it that way; then, put another way, it does not
29 assert a causal relationship between a diet high in fat
30 and low in fibre and cancer of the colon and rectum. Do
31 you agree that it does not assert such a causal
32 relationship?
33 A. The ----.
34
35 Q. Your interpretation of the evidence may be different to
36 the NCI's, but you are not being asked about that at the
37 moment. You are being asked what this publication says or
38 does not say?
39 A. I believe it does assert that there is a
40 cause-and-effect relationship, if that is responsive to
41 the question. However, most of what was read in the
42 document does not go to that but rather instead deals with
43 what those mechanisms may be.
44
45 MR. JUSTICE BELL: May I come back to that, Mr. Rampton, you
46 may be going to do so, but I would like it pointed out to
47 me where it does assert that, because one of the matters
48 I may have to consider is just what various committees and
49 bodies were asserting at materials times. At the same
50 time, I would like to ask you again the question I posed
51 earlier.
52 A. Regarding the document from the National Cancer
53 Institute?
54
55 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes. I would like to ask you at some stage
56 whether you can identify an NCI publication which does say
57 that 35 to 50 per cent of cancers are due to diet as
58 opposed to using some form of words such as, "it has been
59 postulated that" or "it is believed that" or "it may be
60 that".
