Diet is the second most important preventable cause of cancer after tobacco and nutritional factors have a high contribution to the incidence of cancers (as high as 30%), in particular in developed countries. This fact reveals the crucial importance of nutritional research in cancer prevention in order to make a science-based knowledge available to public on the association of diet to cancer. There is a large volume of information among people on the effect of different nutrients on cancer incidence that unfortunately has not a solid scientific basis and could be misleading. In contrast, other studies have shown a direct link between some dietary elements such as high animal products, fat and sugar on colorectal, breast and prostate cancer. This pattern that is mainly observed in developed countries, parallels a micronutrient (vitamins and trace elements) in these countries.
We at ICPI, follow two main strategies in the context of nutrition and cancer prevention. Firstly, we open discussions on novel research methods where the association between diet and cancer incidence is beyond observational correlation studies. We would like to find new strategies to integrate nutrition into basic cancer research and to find the cellular mechanisms that are affected by certain types of micro or macro nutrients and how they promote cancerous conversion. Integrated research on dietary factors and genetic profiles of individuals can pave the way to novel personalized or population-based cancer prevention. Our second strategy is to make this science-based knowledge available to public through public reach out and educational programs. We aim to help people choose the correct data among the explosive amount of information that internet provides to them, in a comprehensive manner that can be easily applied to everyday life. On the other hand, since multidisciplinary effort is a cornerstone of ICPI, we will work with policy-makers to include cancer prevention more seriously in national nutritional program and policies.