Genetic aspects of carcinogenesis

Abstract

CarcinogenesisThis implies that diet acts as a tumour promoter and not a tumour initiator; these conclusions agree with the results on bile acids described above.Although almost all epidemiological studies of populations show a strong correlation between the disease and dietary fat or fibre, the correlations are very weak in case-control studies. Similarly there is a strong correlation between FBA concentration and LBC risk in populations but not in case-control studies. These observations are explicable in the context of the adenoma-carcinoma sequence; in case-control studies there are confounding genetic factors as well as the environmental factors causing the expression of adenomaproneness that are naturally controlled for in population studies.It is necessary now to carry out studies of the causation of colorectal adenomas, and an excellent case-control study of the role of diet in adenoma formation is in progress, organised by the European Research Group for Cancer Prevention (ECP). The results of such studies will not only increase our understanding of colorectal carcinogenesis but will also provide more options for cancer prevention.