The Cancer Prevention Diet

Change your cancer destiny, starting today, by making sure you get plenty of these disease-fighting foods

October 4, 2012

Here is a statement that may sound radical to you but is utterly true: We can prevent cancer. And someday we will even be able to cure it. Some of the nation's most accomplished physicians and cancer experts are convinced that with enough resources and attention, we can make this killer a thing of the past.

After years of observing the "cancer culture," I believe that the way we study, diagnose, and treat cancer in the United States is fatally flawed. We have given up the hope and expectation of curing cancer and now settle for mostly extending the life—all too often for just a few months—of those already diagnosed and suffering. Many scientists at the nation's universities and drug companies have turned their backs on the possibility of prevention and allowed cancer to be recast as a chronic and tolerable disease.


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Instead, what's called for is truly shared responsibility—with essential roles for government, industry, the scientific and medical communities, advocates, patients, and the rest of the American population.

Why Have We Made So Little Progress?

Since 1990, the death rate from cancer has fallen by about 1% a year, and we have seen reductions in the incidence of lung cancer in men and colorectal cancer in both sexes. That's hardly cause for celebration, however, considering that:

  • One out of every two American men and one out of every three women will develop some form of cancer during their lifetime.
  • Lymphoma, melanoma, and kidney, liver, and thyroid cancers are on the rise, as are leukemia and brain cancer in children.
  • Cancer plays a role in one out of every four deaths in this country.

It seems that cancer has turned out to be far more clever than we'd imagined, with an uncanny ability to outwit the therapies we employ to inhibit its growth. It is the consummate chameleon, and the best treatments we have are still designed to cut, poison, or burn it away. It's true that our surgeries have become safer, we have more chemotherapies to choose from, and our radiation is more precise--but these treatments have debilitating side effects, often increase patients' risk of developing other cancers, and don't provide a permanent cure. Even our most highly acclaimed breakthrough targeted treatments, which interfere with specific molecules in cancer cells, come with a huge price tag to individuals and the whole health care system, and they sometimes increase life expectancy by a matter of only weeks.

How can this be? The National Cancer Institute has spent $90 billion on research and treatment since the war against cancer was declared 41 years ago. In that time, we have learned a lot about the biology of cancer and the genetic mutations that raise the risks. What we have not done is channel our scientific know-how, funding, and energy into a full exploration of the one path certain to save lives: prevention. This year, the NCI asked for $2 billion to understand the mechanisms and causes of cancer, $1.3 billion for treatment—and just $232 million for cancer prevention and control.

We also have not encouraged our best medical minds to work together for the common good. Right now, scientists run similar experiments in isolation, often duplicating each other's efforts and reluctantly sharing their results. Instead, we need to create incentives that will enable researchers to share information more easily and build upon each other's successes.

I know that we can do better—and we must. Our very lives—and our children's lives—depend upon it.

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If We Can Send A Man To The Moon . . .

We can prevent more than half the cancers that occur in the United States today by applying knowledge we already have, according to researchers. More is possible if we start up the bold initiative I propose: the National Cancer Prevention Institute. From how we define our mission and over-see the research agenda to how we collect data, conduct clinical trials, and motivate scientists, the NCPI will allow us to approach the cancer challenge in new ways.

The NCPI will be a powerhouse of ideas and talent. It will give our scientific pioneers the infrastructure to work together, focused on specific goals with clear deadlines. It can help us understand the differences between people who develop cancer and those who don't. It can lead to meaningful tools of early detection, vaccines that prevent cancer, strategies to strengthen the immune system, and a better understanding of how nutritional deficiencies, environmental exposures, and genetic risk factors promote disease.

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My hope is that we can also engage the pharmaceutical companies as allies in this work. I'd like to see the industry reinvent itself as a champion of preventive therapies and cures for early disease.

Our new attack on cancer has to bring public health to center stage as well. Public health is about sweeping and often-inexpensive actions designed to prevent bad things from happening rather than curing them after they do—getting people vaccinated, improving access to healthy foods, and using social media to encourage individuals to change behavior.

It's also about eliminating environmental contaminants, which can disrupt the body's genetic, immune, and endocrine systems and promote cell mutations. "The American people—even before they are born—are bombarded continually with myriad combinations of these dangerous exposures," declares the President's Cancer Panel, which has made powerful, specific recommendations for reducing cancer risks in the environment. So far, these have not been implemented. You can, however, make changes in your own life and to your personal environment that can make a real difference in your health and your family's.



While government, science, and advocacy groups all need to be involved in the mission to create a cancer-prevention agenda, individuals should be as well. Obesity, poor diet, and lack of exercise account for almost one-third of cancer fatalities in the United States, so healthy behavior will lessen our risk. Here, an action strategy you can start today.


Buy organic.
Exposure to certain pesticides is linked to at least nine different cancers. Buy foods with the USDA-certified organic seal. (Think you can't afford it? Try these 8 Ways to Eat Organic on a Budget.)

Make fruits and vegetables daily companions.
Consume a range of fresh, colorful produce. Berries, cruciferous vegetables (such as broccoli, brussels sprouts, and cabbage), tomatoes, and dark-green leafy vegetables are especially potent cancer fighters.

Add fiber to your diet.
Every 10 g of daily fiber intake reduces the risk of colon cancer by 10%. Good sources include whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. Aim for 25 g daily.

Eat more fish.
Fish that are low in saturated fat and high in omega-3 fatty acids, such as salmon, Atlantic mackerel, Arctic char, and sardines, reduce inflammation, which is linked to cancer.

Drink green tea.
Green tea contains catechins, antioxidants in a class of compounds called polyphenols, which may protect cells from DNA damage, strengthen the immune system, and activate enzymes that curb tumors.

Get enough vitamin D.
Higher blood levels of this vitamin are associated with lower rates of colon, breast, ovarian, renal, pancreatic, and prostate cancers. Have your blood level tested, and discuss supplementation options with your doctor. For more on vitamin D research, check out the work of the GrassrootsHealth organization.)

Flavor your food with turmeric.
Another polyphenol, this Indian spice has anti-inflammatory properties.

Avoid red meat.
Beef, pork, and lamb are linked to cancers of the colon, prostate, pancreas, and kidney.

Limit alcohol consumption.
Alcohol is a risk factor for oral cancers; cancers of the esophagus, liver, colon, and breast; and possibly pancreatic cancer. Women should have no more than one drink daily; men, no more than two.

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Don't eat trans fats.
Trans fatty acids, used in baked goods and deep-fried foods, raise the risk of prostate and invasive breast cancers. Don't buy anything containing partially hydrogenated oil, code for trans fats.



Keep out toxins.
Clean with products that use organic ingredients; filter tap water; and look for cosmetics, moisturizers, and hair-care products without parabens, chemicals that have estrogenlike properties that may stimulate hormone-related cancers.

Avoid BPA and BPS.
Research suggests there are links between cancer and BPA and BPS, both of which are found in plastic bottles and the inside coating of cans. Look for cans labeled BPA-free and plastic containers with the recycling numbers 1, 2, or 4.

Minimize dry cleaning.
Perchloroethylene, a dry-cleaning solvent, causes cancer in animals. Find a dry cleaner that doesn't use it, or air your clothes out after bringing them home.

Keep your cell phone away from your face.
Mobile phones use a form of electromagnetism that has been classified as "possibly carcinogenic to humans." When on your phone, use a headset, speakerphone, or Bluetooth device.


Get cancer-prevention vaccines.
Everyone needs to get the hepatitis B vaccine, which helps prevent liver cancer. The HPV vaccine, which protects against many viral strains that cause cervical cancer, is advised for all females ages 11 to 26 and all males ages 11 to 21.

Be screened appropriately.
The colonoscopy is the gold standard for detecting colon cancer; the Pap test, for cervical cancer; and mammograms, for breast cancer.

Limit exposure to medical radiation.
Ask your doctor why a test is recommended and whether there is an alternative that does not use radiation.

Adapted from A World Without Cancer: The Making of a New Cure and the Real Promise of Prevention, by Margaret I. Cuomo, MD (Rodale, 2012). Buy the book