Klin Onkol 2000; 13(Speciál 2000): 8-16.
Summary: Dietary factors fall among the most important determinants of cancer risk and represent a powerful potential for prevention. Up to 40 % of cancers are preventable by dietary factors alone, with extent of preventability depending considerably on cancer site. Digestive tract cancers, as oesophagus, stomach, and colorectal carcinomas are preventable up to 75 % by dietary factors, however the effect is also very significant for many sites apart from gastrointestinal tract; cancer of breast and endometrium cancers are preventable up to 50 % by dietary means, lung cancer up to 30 %. Nutrition can contain either factors increasing risk or protective factors. A plentiful consumption of vegetables and fruits has the greatest effect at all, owing to the content of large amount of various natural anticarcinogenic agents, in addition to the content of known vitamins, minerals and fibre. On the contrary, high intake of fat, red meat, salt, sugar, over-cocked food a and consumption of mouldy food are risky. Dietary factors include also body mass and physical activity; high body mass is an significant risk factor, while high physical activity is an significant protective factor. Derived recommendations for cancer prevention by dietary means are well-founded by adequate evidence and are unequivocally formulated and quantified. Adequate methodological evaluative-interventional tools exist for their invoking on both individual and population level.
