DIET & CANCER

what is cancer

• uncontrolled cell division

• cells fail to differentiate

• tumours develop

outline causes of cancer

usually multiple accumulations of mutations that cause cancer, not a single one

hallmarks of cancer and enabling characteristics

outline genome instability and mutation

= genes are more unstable so these do not replicate as effectively

outline tumour-promoting inflammation

= chronic inflammation synthesises cells to proliferate

_______ is associated with chronic inflammation

obesity

cancer is a leading cause of?

premature mortality

in which countries do cancers occur more in and how does this compare to the death rates

cancers are occurring more in HICs but there is still a greater mortality in the LICs - greater survival of cancers in HICs

what are reasons for a higher survival of cancers in HICs (3)

• better screening

• better treatments

• vaccination availability

what are methods that can be used to study cancer

• cellular models

• animal studies

• human studies

outline the methods to study cancer

what cells can be used in cell cultures

• primary cell lines

• immortalised cell lines

what are primary cell lines

primary cell lines: cells isolated directly from humans then exposed to different nutrients

(limited number of cell divisions and so used for short term experiments)

what are immortalised cell lines

immortalised cell lines: cells derived from cancerous tumours

what are advantages of the cell culture of immortalised cells (6)

what are disadvantages of the cell culture of immortalised cells (2)

outline animal studies

what are advantages of animal studies (4)

what are disadvantages of animal studies (3)

what are the types of human study designs and their subtypes

what do epidemiological studies provide

evidence of an association between two variables

what does nutritional epidemiology focus on

associations between diet and disease or risk factors for a disease

which study types are useful for diet and cancer research

• ecological

• experimental

• cohort

• case control (some use)

which study types are not useful for diet and cancer research

• cross-sectional

ecological studies + advantages/ disadvantages

cross-sectional studies + advantages/ disadvantages

analyses data from population at a single point in time

case control studies + advantages/ disadvantages

retrospective study to identify potential risk factors

cohort studies + advantages/ disadvantages

observing people before they actually have the cancer

experimental studies + advantages/ disadvantages

key findings of continuous reporting studies (things that decrease risk)

key findings of continuous reporting studies (things that increase risk)

what are limitations of continuous reporting (5)

dairy products/ calcium and cancer association

translating findings into recommendations

cancer prevention recommendations

what are lifestyle risk factors of cancers of the mouth, pharynx and larynx (3)

what are other risk factors of cancer of the mouth, pharynx and larynx

ultra processed foods (UPFs)

• UPFs associated with an increased risk of cancer

• average UK adult eats >50% of daily energy intake from UPFs

key summary points