American Cancer Society Issues Nutrition and Activity Advice for Cancer Survivors

American Cancer Society
Thursday, 31 May 2001

Although many prevention studies have been conducted to look at nutrition and physical activity as they affect cancer incidence, few investigators have focused on what people should eat, or whether and how they should exercise, after a cancer diagnosis. Yet, there are about nine million cancer survivors in the US today, many of whom are highly motivated to begin more healthful lifestyles.

The current issue of CA—A Cancer Journal for Clinicians presents a guide for informed choices about nutrition and physical activity for cancer survivors, compiled by a special American Cancer Society (ACS) workgroup. The authors explain that while their report is not a formal guideline of specific recommendations, this summary of the evidence to date offers a reasonable framework for informed decision-making.

In an accompanying editorial, Harmon J. Eyre, MD, ACS Executive Vice President for Research and Medical Affairs and Editor in Chief of CA, observes that a diagnosis of cancer often causes a frightening sense of losing control over one's destiny. "One of the ways in which patients and their loved ones can continue to exert some control in their lives is by focusing on nutrition," he points out. The phase of active cancer treatment poses special nutritional challenges, such as an increased need for calories. Moreover, although most patients assume that taking vitamin and mineral supplements should be beneficial, some evidence suggests that certain supplements could reduce the effectiveness of some treatments.

Because most cancer survivors are responsible for their own dietary and activity choices—with the exception of hospitalized patients—the CA article includes a special patient education handout covering commonly asked questions about nutrition.

This issue of CA also includes an article examining the carcinogenicity of diesel exhaust, both for the general population and for those who are subject to heavier, occupational, exposures. Finally, this issue's column on complementary and alternative methods looks at PC-SPES, an increasingly popular herbal supplement used by men with prostate cancer.

CA--A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, published for the American Cancer Society by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, is the most widely circulated cancer journal in the world. It appears six times a year and publishes articles, usually of a review nature, on all aspects of cancer detection, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. For an interview with any of the authors or an American Cancer Society authority on any of these or other topics, please contact Joann Schellenbach at 212-382-2169. P.S. The CA Web site can be accessed via the newly redesigned American Cancer Society Web site, www.cancer.org, where it will continue to feature free, full-text versions of all articles that have been published since 1996.

The American Cancer Society is the nationwide community-based voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer through research, education, advocacy, and service. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc., is a global publisher of medical, nursing, and allied health information resources in book, journal, looseleaf, and electronic media formats. The company is a unit of Wolters Kluwer International Health & Science, a group of leading publishing companies offering specialized publications and software in medicine, nursing, pharmacy, science, and related areas.

For more information, or to contact American Cancer Society, see their website at: www.cancer.org