Dietary Phytochemicals in Cancer Prevention and Treatment

Book excerpt: The sixth annual research conference of the American Institute for Cancer Research was held August 31 and September 1, 1995, at the Loews L'Enfant Plaza Hotel in Washing ton, DC. In view of the promising leads in the diet/nutrition and cancer research field, the conference was devoted to "Dietary Phytochemicals in Cancer Prevention and Treatment. " The number of sessions was increased over that in previous conferences in order to accommodate the topics of interest. The conference overview, entitled "Plants and Cancer: Food, Fiber, and Phytochemicals," provided a framework for the following sessions. In addition, the attendees were reminded that for several decades epidemiologists have noted a lower risk of lung, esophageal, stomach, and colon cancer in populations consuming diets high in fruits and vegetables. However, isolation and ingestion of individual protective factors are not the preferred action since the complexity of the food and the matrix in which nutritional factors are embedded are important. The individual sessions then provided more insight as to why eating fruits and vegetables is associated with a lower risk of cancer. The first of these sessions was on "Isothiocyanates" that induce both the Phase I and Phase II enzymes that increase detoxification and conjugation reactions, thus causing more rapid removal of any xenobiotic or carcinogen. Thus, less carcinogen is available for interaction with DNA or other critical cellular macromolecules.