Des Moines Register
08-05-06
Birt: Direct more funds, focus to prevention
DIANE BIRT
GUEST COLUMNIST
Cancer research has received a large portion of the federal dollars that go to
biomedical research because of the high rate of cancer in the United States and
the apparent increase over the past century.
However, with the current shift in national priorities, funding for cancer research
has been flat, resulting in an overall decline in funding in recent years in relation
to the pace of inflation.
Cancer research covers all aspects of cancer: basic cancer biology, therapeutics
and prevention. I would advocate that cancer-prevention research, which
receives a small fraction of the funding, should receive an increasing proportion
of the biomedical-research dollar.
My career of 30-plus years in cancer research began at the Eppley Institute for
Cancer Research at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. I
approach my work with the foundation of a doctoral degree in nutrition and a
long-standing interest in understanding the impact of diet on chronic diseases.
Our laboratory at Eppley and at Iowa State University has investigated vitamins,
minerals, phytochemicals and energy intake on cancer models in laboratory
animals. My studies begin with healthy rodents, and we develop strategies for
preventing cancer and understanding mechanisms of prevention. Ours was
among laboratories that revealed that energy intake and energy utilization were
more important than the amount of dietary fat in development of several forms of
cancer. Studies in humans have further supported this observation.
Strategies for cancer prevention include avoiding the use of tobacco in all forms,
protecting yourself from sunlight exposure, regular exercise and eating a
healthful diet.
Growing evidence suggests that an individual's genetic makeup will dictate which
of these recommendations are most important, but further cancer-prevention
research will be needed to individualize recommendations.
DIANE BIRT is a professor of food science and human nutrition and
director of the Center for Research on Botanical Dietary Supplements at
Iowa State University.