Diet and cancer prevention: Current knowledge and future direction

It is now more than two decades since Doll and Peto suggested that dietary choices might modulate cancer risk (Doll and Peto, 1981). Whereas their assumption was based chiefly on epidemiological findings, evidence from a variety of sources during the past 20 years has largely substantiated the idea that diet can significantly influence cancer incidence and tumor behavior. Detailed mechanistic studies have identified multiple effects for a number of individual food components on various cancerrelated processes (Figure 17.1). However, the absolute response to these bioactive food components is likely dependent on multiple factors, including a host of dietary and environmental interactions as well the genetic profile of the consumer. Thus, it is logical to expect considerable variation, as is evident in the published literature.