title: Cancer prevention clinical trials.
abstract: Many kinds of cancer are preventable. Avoidance of tobacco would essentially eliminate lung cancer and most head and neck cancers as well. Other common cancers (breast, colon, prostate) are related to diet and therefore may also be preventable, at least in part. Abundant epidemiologic and laboratory data link specific nutrients including fat, fiber and vitamins to cancer so that appropriate manipulation of these constituents might reduce cancer risk. Determination of appropriate manipulations requires prospective clinical trials in humans. Approximately 40 such trials are in progress. Some have been completed with encouraging results. Future large scale trials will require designs that overcome the barriers of cost, large subject numbers and long study duration. The use of "intermediate markers" rather than cancer end points is a strategy that will help overcome these barriers.
authors.affiliation: Hollings Cancer Center, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston 29425, USA.
authors.forename: D W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Nixon
mesh_terms: D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D004041:Dietary Fats; D004043:Dietary Fiber; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control*; D009747:Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D016540:Smoking Cessation; D014815:Vitamins
chemical_list: D004041:Dietary Fats; D004043:Dietary Fiber; D014815:Vitamins