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THE MOSS REPORTS Newsletter (04/09/03)

 

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Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D. Weekly CancerDecisions.com

Newsletter #79 04/09/03

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Worldwide Cancer Rates Could Increase by 50 Percent by 2020

 

 

 

The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a major

report in which it states that cancer rates could

increase by 50 percent by the year 2020. The Report

concludes that one-third of these cancers could be

prevented by timely action on smoking, diet and

infection. The World Cancer Report is one of the most

comprehensive global examinations of the disease to

date. It provides clear evidence that " healthy

lifestyles and public health action by governments and

health practitioners could stem this trend, and prevent

as many as one-third of cancers worldwide. "

 

 

WHO says that in 2000 cancer was responsible for 12 per

cent of the nearly 56 million deaths worldwide from all

causes. In that same year, 10 million people (5.3

million men and 4.7 million women) developed cancer and

6.2 million people died from the disease, more than a

quarter of all deaths in many countries. The report

showed that cancer has also emerged as a major public

health problem in developing countries, " matching its

effect in industrialized nations. "

 

 

" The World Cancer Report tells us that cancer rates are

set to increase at an alarming rate globally, " said Dr.

Paul Kleihues, Director of the International Agency for

Research on Cancer (IARC) and co-editor of this World

Cancer Report. But he adds, " We have the opportunity

to stem this increase. This report calls on

governments, health practitioners and the general

public to take urgent action. Action now can prevent

one-third of cancers, cure another third, and provide

good, palliative care to the remaining third who need

it. "

 

 

Whether a world obsessed with problems of war and

terrorism will also take definitive action on cancer

remains to be seen. This hasn't been the case so far.

But at least a clear warning signal has been given of

this enormous and growing problem. The Report gives

examples of areas in which definitive action could make

a difference in preventing about one-third of all

cases:

 

 

- Reduction of tobacco consumption. This remains the

most important avoidable cancer risk. In the 20th

century, approximately 100 million people died

worldwide from tobacco-associated diseases.

 

- A healthy lifestyle and diet can help. Regular

physical activity and frequent consumption of fruits

and vegetables can make a difference.

 

- Early detection through screening, particularly for

cervical and breast cancers, allows for prevention and

successful cure.

 

 

" Governments, physicians, and health educators at all

levels could do much more to help people change their

behavior to avoid preventable cancers, " said Bernard W.

Stewart, Ph.D., co-editor of the report, Director of

Cancer Services, and Professor, Faculty of Medicine,

University of New South Wales, Australia. " If the

knowledge, technology and control strategies outlined

in the World Cancer Report were applied globally, we

would make major advances in preventing and treating

cancers over the next twenty years and beyond. "

 

 

Half of regular smokers are killed by the habit, WHO

says. One quarter of smokers will die prematurely

during middle age (35 to 69 years). Roughly 90 per

cent of lung cancers in both men and women are

attributable to cigarette smoking. For cancers of the

bladder and renal pelvis, more than 50 per cent of

cases are caused by smoking.

 

 

In developed countries, the probability of being

diagnosed with cancer is more than twice as high as in

developing countries. However, in developed countries,

some 50 per cent of cancer patients die of their

disease, while in developing countries, 80 per cent

already have late-stage, incurable tumors when they are

diagnosed.

 

 

Cancer is closely associated with a Western lifestyle,

characterized by a highly caloric diet, rich in fat,

refined carbohydrates and animal protein, combined with

low physical activity. This results in an overall

energy imbalance and is associated with a multitude of

disease conditions, including obesity, diabetes,

cardiovascular disease, arterial hypertension and

cancer.

 

 

 

Nutrition and Cancer

 

 

 

Epidemiological studies, says WHO, indicate that the

frequent consumption of fruit and vegetables may reduce

the risk of developing many cancers, including

carcinomas of the pharynx, larynx, lung, esophagus,

stomach, colon and cervix. Recent data from the

European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and

Nutrition (EPIC), suggests that a daily consumption of

500 grams (1.1. lbs.) of fruits and vegetables can

decrease incidence of cancers of the digestive tract by

up to 25 per cent.

 

 

Countries should encourage consumption of locally

produced vegetables, fruit and agricultural products,

and avoid the adoption of Western style dietary habits,

says the Report. This would have health benefits

beyond cancer, since other common non-communicable

diseases, notably cardiovascular disease and diabetes,

share the same lifestyle-related risk factors.

 

 

Here are some key statements from the WHO Report:

 

- Tobacco use is the major preventable cause of cancer

in the world.

 

- Molecular genome research " will reveal a tremendous

amount of information on cancer but it is not clear how

[easily] these discoveries will translate into actual

lives saved and may well be restricted to rare

cancers. "

 

- As developing countries adopt lifestyles similar to

Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand and

Japan, they will also encounter much higher cancer

rates, particularly cancers of the breast, colon,

prostate and uterus (endometrial carcinoma).

 

- The report says that the worldwide breast cancer

epidemic has many causes, including reproductive

history, genetics, exposure to radiation (especially

during the time that the breast is developing), and a

Western lifestyle with a high caloric diet, obesity and

lack of physical activity.

 

- " New drugs will not necessarily eradicate tumors, but

when used in combination with other agents, may turn

many cases of rapidly fatal cancer into 'manageable'

chronic illness. " But for maximum impact on the cancer

problem, societies must change their priority from

treatment and detection to prevention, the report

says.

 

 

" By acting now, by the year 2020, countries can achieve

significant reductions in cancer rates and in mortality

from cancer, " says Dr. Stewart. " These opportunities

exist, and the only question is whether we will take

advantage of them for the benefit of all humankind. "

 

 

The WHO Report has little to say about controlling

carcinogens in the food, air, water and workplace. For

that you have to turn to another report, " Stop Cancer

Before It Starts. " This was written by Prof. Samuel S.

Epstein of the University of Illinois and his

colleagues at the Cancer Prevention Coalition. This

hard-hitting report states, " The cancer establishment

has failed to warn the public, media, Congress and

regulatory agencies of…avoidable exposures to

industrial and other carcinogens, incriminated in

rodent tests and in epidemiological studies. "

 

 

The WHO report, valuable as it is, downplays the role

of environmental carcinogens (other than tobacco and

viruses) as major causes of cancer. You need to consult

both reports to get a more complete picture of why

cancer rates are increasing worldwide, and what can be

done about it.

 

 

 

The Pill and Cervical Cancer

 

 

 

A new analysis confirms that " the Pill " contributes to

the risk of cervical cancer. Researchers at Oxford

University found that the risk of cervical cancer was

related to the length of time spent using oral

contraceptives. Women who used oral contraceptives for

less than five years had a 10 percent increased risk,

those who used them from five to nine years had a 60

percent increase, while those who used them for more

than ten years had a 120 percent increased risk. The

risk was even greater in women who were infected with

the human papilloma virus (HPV). In such women, even a

few years of use was connected to a 90 percent increase

in risk.

 

 

Dr. Valerie Beral, of Cancer Research UK in Oxford, and

colleagues conducted a Medline search of studies

published between 1966 and 2002 to identify

epidemiologic studies that included information about

oral contraceptive use and the risk of cervical cancer.

Twenty-eight studies were identified that included a

total of 12,531 women with cervical cancer. The

researchers' findings are published in the April 5,

2003 issue of The Lancet.

 

 

Many of us can remember when " the Pill " was touted as a

" medical cure-all for social and political ills the

world over, " to quote FDA historian, Suzanne White

Junod, PhD. " Early on, FDA expressed concerns about

the carcinogenicity of the drug, " she writes, " but

ob-gyn experts did not share this concern. " Too bad

that FDA wasn't as tough with them as they are with

advocates of non-pharmacological or " alternative "

medicine. A lot of women have gotten cervical cancer

because of the untempered enthusiasm of some doctors

for this alleged panacea. Let us take a warning from

this and not jump on anyone's bandwagon.

 

 

 

Influence of Drug Industry

 

 

 

" The insidious tactics of big pharma have changed

little, " The Lancet editorialized in April, 2001,

since the days of the notorious thalidomide disaster.

Then as now, drug companies have tried to " suppress,

spin, and obfuscate findings " that might have

discredited them.

 

 

Those who have a commercial interest in a treatment

often try to influence the conclusions of a sensitive

report. Sometimes they demand editorial control over a

scientific paper or veto power over its conclusions.

This sort of censorship has become increasingly common,

as companies attempt to influence studies of their

methods.

 

 

The problem is an international one. For instance,

when an Irish bacteriologist asked the pharmaceutical

giant Bayer AG to provide him with a supply of an

antibiotic for a study, the company demanded that he

" inform Bayer AG in writing of [his] test results " and

that he promise not to " publish or commercialize them

without written permission of Bayer AG. " The scientist

replied that he was " concerned in respect to the

restriction on publication without permission. " As well

he should be!

 

 

In 2001, authors of a study in The Lancet came under

intense pressure from a drug company to remove an

incriminating sentence on side effects from an article

on a particular drug. The journal threatened to reveal

the name of the company that was making the threats and

the would-be suppressors backed off, afraid of the

power of such publicity to expose their machinations.

 

 

A few years ago, the Journal of the American Medical

Association (JAMA) published a study whose data was

incomplete because the study's sponsor refused to

supply information to researchers. Readers should

remain alert to the possibility that even in the

peer-reviewed, scientific literature they may not be

getting the complete and uncensored story on a

treatment. Some medical journals are fighting back,

however, insisting that studies make explicit the role

of financially interested parties in data collection,

analysis, and publication.

 

 

 

--Ralph W. Moss, PhD

 

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References

 

 

WHO Report:

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/releases/2003/pr27/en/

 

Epstein Report available at:

http://www.preventcancer.com/

 

FDA Historian's comments:

http://www.fda.gov/oc/history/makinghistory/enovid.html

 

Cervical cancer and " the Pill " :

Smith JS, et al. Cervical cancer and use of hormonal

contraceptives: a systematic review. Lancet 2003;361:1159.

 

Censorship in medicine:

The tightening grip of big pharma Lancet 2001 357:9263.

 

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IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER

 

 

The news and other items in this newsletter are

intended for informational purposes only. Nothing in

this newsletter is intended to be a substitute for

professional medical advice.

 

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