title: Mediterranean Diet and cancer risk: an open issue.
abstract: The traditional Mediterranean Diet of the early 1960s meets the characteristics of an anticancer diet defined by the World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research (WCRF/AIRC). A diet rich of whole grains, pulses, vegetables and fruits, limited in high-calorie foods (foods high in sugar or fat), red meat and foods high in salt, without sugary drinks and processed meat is recommended by the WCRF/AIRC experts to reduce the risk of cancer. The aim of this review was to examine whether Mediterranean Diet is protective or not against cancer risk. Three meta-analyses of cohort studies reported that a high adherence to the Mediterranean Diet significantly reduces the risk of cancer incidence and/or mortality. Nevertheless, the Mediterranean dietary pattern defined in the studies' part of the meta-analyses has qualitative and/or quantitative differences compared to the Mediterranean Diet of the early 1960s. Therefore, the protective role of the Mediterranean Diet against cancer has not definitely been established. In epidemiological studies, a universal definition of the Mediterranean Diet, possibly the traditional Mediterranean Diet of the early 1960s, could be useful to understand the role of this dietary pattern in cancer prevention.
authors.affiliation: a General Medicine ASL BA/4 , Bari , Italy ;
authors.forename: Annunziata
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: D'Alessandro
authors.affiliation: b Department of Biomedical Sciences and Human Oncology, Section of Internal Medicine and Oncology , School of Medicine, Policlinico, University of Bari "Aldo Moro" , Bari , Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: De Pergola
authors.affiliation: b Department of Biomedical Sciences and Human Oncology, Section of Internal Medicine and Oncology , School of Medicine, Policlinico, University of Bari "Aldo Moro" , Bari , Italy.
authors.forename: Franco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Silvestris
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000072001:Diet, Healthy; D038441:Diet, Mediterranean; D006801:Humans; D015201:Meta-Analysis as Topic; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control*; D010349:Patient Compliance; D012307:Risk Factors
keywords: Cancer; Mediterranean Diet; prevention