A case control study to determine the association of dietary fibre and cancer among Malaysians. It was conducted among 100 newly-diagnosed cancer patients admitted to the Radiotherapy and Oncology Ward, Hospital Kuala Lumpur. A total of 100 controls matched with the cases for age, sex and ethnic origin were selected from the Outpatient Health Clinic in Sentul. The subjects were interviewed to obtain information on their habitual dietary intakes and lifestyles. Family history of cancer, smoking habits, and alcohol consumption were found to be significant risk factors for cancer (p<0.05 for all parameters). The mean intake of total energy was higher among men with nasopharyngeal cancer and women with gastrointestinal cancer as compared to their controls (p<0.05 for both parameters). The percentage of energy contribution from fat was higher among cases (35%) than controls (32.1%). The mean dietary fibre intake among cases (10.86 ± 8.90 g/d) was apparently lower than the controls (13.22 ± 5.99 g/d), with significant differences noted for breast cancer and also nasopharyngeal cancer. Women with low fibre intake (<10g/d) had a 2.2 times higher risk of getting breast cancer. There is a need to educate the public to adhere to a wholesome diet, in particular to increase the consumption of high-fibre food for disease prevention.
Study site: Radiotherapy and Oncology Ward, Hospital Kuala Lumpur and Outpatient Health Clinic in Sentu
Chemoprevention has become an important area in cancer research due to the failure of current therapeutic modalities. Epidemiological and preclinical studies have demonstrated that nutrition plays a vital role in the etiology of cancer. This study was conducted to determine the chemopreventive effects of germinated brown rice (GBR) in rats induced with colon cancer. GBR is brown rice that has been claimed to be richer in nutrients compared to the common white rice. The male Sprague Dawley rats (6 weeks of age) were randomly divided into 5 groups: (G1) positive control (with colon cancer, unfed with GBR), (G2) fed with 2.5 g/kg of GBR (GBR (g)/weight of rat (kg)), (G3) fed with 5 g/kg of GBR, (G4) fed with 10 g/kg of GBR and (G5) negative control (without colon cancer, unfed with GBR). GBR was administered orally once daily via gavage after injection of 15 mg/kg of body weight of azoxymethane (AOM) once a week for two weeks, intraperitonially. After 8 weeks of treatment, animals were sacrificed and colons were removed. Colonic aberrant crypt foci (ACF) were evaluated histopathologically. Total number of ACF and AC, and multicrypt of ACF, and the expression of beta-catenin and COX-2 reduced significantly (p < 0.05) in all the groups treated with GBR (G2, G3 and G4) compared to the control group (G1). Spearman rank correlation test showed significant positive linear relationship between total beta-catenin and COX-2 score (Spearman's rho = 0.616, p = 0.0001). It is demonstrated that GBR inhibits the development of total number of ACF and AC, and multicrypt of ACF, reduces the expression of beta-catenin and COX-2, and thus can be a promising dietary supplement in prevention of colon cancer.