Diet seen to affect liver cancer risk

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Diet seen to affect liver cancer risk

Tuesday,

January 2, 2007

By

NEW YORK - Certain foods, among them milk and fruit, appear to reduce

the likelihood of developing liver cancer, according to Italian researchers. Their study, Dr. Renato

Talamini - " indicated that diet has a relevant

role in the risk of this cancer. As for other types of

cancer, particularly fruits and vegetables seem to confer a protective

effect. " Talamini,

at the National Tumor Institute in Aviano, and

colleagues studied 185 patients with liver cancer and a comparison group of 412

" controls " without cancer. The results are

reported in the International Journal of Cancer.

The participants' responses to

dietary questionnaires showed that as intake of various foods went up, the risk

of liver cancer went down. After accounting for other

factors that could affect the risk, the team found that high intakes of milk

and yoghurt reduced the chances of developing liver cancer by 78 percent. High consumption of white meat lowered the

risk by 56 percent, and with high intake of fruit, it went down by 52 percent. Vegetables, too, apparently had a protective effect, but

this didn't reach significance from a statistical standpoint.

The researchers saw that the findings held good for patients with

hepatitis B and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Talamini advised

that, to ward off liver cancer, one should " adopt a correct diet, rich in

fruits and vegetables. " SOURCE: International

Journal of Cancer, December 15, 2006.