title: Diet and cancer prevention: the roles of observation and experimentation.
abstract: Observational epidemiology and experimentation by randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have been used to evaluate dietary factors in cancer prevention; however, consistency in findings has been elusive. In several circles, RCTs are viewed as more credible than observational studies. As the testing of dietary epidemiological findings in RCTs has been more common for colorectal cancer than for other cancers, we use experience with this malignancy to critically appraise the reasons for discrepancies between results of observational and experimental studies.
authors.affiliation: Arizona Cancer Center 1515 North Campbell Avenue, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85724, USA. emartinez@azcc.arizona.edu
authors.forename: María Elena
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Martínez
authors.forename: James R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Marshall
authors.forename: Edward
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Giovannucci
mesh_terms: D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000178:diet therapy / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004032:Diet; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D036262:Empirical Research; D005492:Folic Acid / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic / Q000379:methods; D012107:Research Design
chemical_list: D005492:Folic Acid