Cancer experts meeting in the US this week are expected to highlight a number of new studies connecting diet to prevention of cancers.
More than 650 scientists from around the world will gather in Phoenix, Arizona this week at the second American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research.
Novel findings to be reported at the conference include results showing that a low-carbohydrate diet, rather than a low-fat diet, may halt the progression of prostate cancer. Conversely, vitamin A and related compounds present in dairy products, beef fat and fish oil, slow the growth of prostate tumors, researchers will report.
There will also be studies on the benefits of ginger, green tea and the antioxidants in grapes and wine, which can decrease the odds of developing skin cancer from exposure to ultraviolet light, according to scientists.
"Over the past five years there have been significant advances in our understanding of the signaling pathways responsible for the development of both pre-invasive and invasive cancers," said Dr Raymond N. DuBois, chairperson at the meeting.
"This meeting will provide a venue for discussion of our current strategies for cancer prevention and for a critical evaluation of exciting new opportunities to reduce the high burden of cancer on our society by using better diagnostics, predictive markers and personalised medicine," he added.
Research hospitals, universities and government health agencies are beginning to focus further on the quest to identify drugs and other substances that will ward off the onset of cancer, hinder its progress, reverse its course or diminish the chances of its recurrence.
This sea change is likely to bring new studies on dietary components that fight cancers and back the growing body of research on plant-based compounds.