16-THE CAROLINA TIMES-SATURDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1982
Alcohol, Coffee, Saccharin
Scientists Study Links Between Diet And Cancer
. . 'well as chemical ones, when Theodore Sandler sa
By Lee Hinnant
CHAPEL HILL ^ As
more links are found bet
ween diet and cancer,
researchers at , the
University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hiu
and elsewhere are trying
to identify those links
and determine the
specific health risks.
“It’s pretty clear that
diet is related to cancer,,
said Dr. Robert Sandler,
an instructor in the
UNC-CH schools ot
Medicine and Public
Health. Sandler has been
studying patterns of i
digestive cancers among
groups of people, trying
to identify those who
have high risk and the
reason for that risk.
He and other resear
chers, . including a
number of nationally
known experts in cancer
research, discussed the
ties between diet and
cancer at a symposium
here this Fall, sponsored
by the UNC-CH Clinical
Cancer Education Pro
gram and Cancer
Research Center.
Among the sym
posium topics were
alcohol, coffee and sac
charin, all substam^s.
that have come under in
creasing scrutiny from
cancer researchers.
Studies have indicated
an association between
alcohol and cancer of the
mouth, esophagus,
larynx and liver. Sandler
said there is the sugges
tion of a cause-effect
relationship, since
similar results have conie
from different studies in
a number of countries,
even when the research
accounted for other
risks, such as smoking.
Finally, those who drink
more tend to have more
of these cancers. This is
known as a dose-'
response relationship.
“Alcohol is a difficult
substance to study,”
Sandler said. “One
reason is it’s hard to
determine just how much
people really drink.”
Also, people who
drink often do other
things that can harm
them, such as smoking,
he said. Another com
plication is that heavy
drinkers often do not eat
properly, since alcohol is
loaded with calories.
This can lead to nutri
tional defects which
themselves might be
responsible for cancer. _
“When pure alcohol is
given to lab animals,”-
Sandler said, “they
don’t set cancer.”
Atconolic beverages,
■however, are . seldom
pure alcohol. Wine, for
instance, has about 1,500
different substances in it
that give the drink body,
flavor and aroma. Some
experts recommend
drinks like vodka or gin,
which have fewer extra
compounds than Scotch
or red wine.
Sandler _ said that
because of the research
limitations, there is no
scientific consensus on
how alcohol causes
cancer.
“If alcohol really pro
motes cancer,” he said,
“it’s hard to decide how
it does that.
“There are so many
other problems with
alcohol...! would recom
mend moderation,”
Sandler said. “Therejs.
some evidence that
moderate alcohol con
sumption is good for
your heart.”
Sandler said coffee
and its possible risks are
getting publicity, largely
due to a 1981 article in
the New England Jour
nal of Medicine, which
told of a study showing a
strong association bet
ween coffee drinking and
pancreatic cancer. Pan
creatic cancer is a par
ticularly dangerous type
and was associated with
coffee drinking
regardless of the
oatient’s use of tobacco,
alcohol or tea. The study
ilso found a significant
dose-response relation
ship among • coffee,
drinkers.
on coffee take a group of
cancer patients, ask them
a barrage of different
questions, then try to
compare them with
healthy people by asking
them the same things.
Sandler said much of the
difficulty comes from
trying to find the group
for comparison. .He said
certain types of people'
were- missing from thj
control group in the cof
fee study.
He compared this type
of research to going
fishing.
“The thing about go
ing fishing,” Sandler
said, “is there’s a good
chance you might catch
something. It is impor
tant to confirm this fin
ding in other studies.”
Sandler said another
study linked decaf
feinated coffee to
cancer. There was no
distinction between cof
fees in the New England
Journal of Medine arti
cle. Prior to 1975, a
chemical was used to
decaffeinate coffee that
is now a known car
cinogen!
Saccharin is a
substance that has
political implications as
well as chemical ones.
Congress took steps to
continue the use of sac
charin although there is
some evidence it causes
cancer.
The problems of sac
charin are not just re
cent. The first attempts
to ban it were in 1906
when Theodore
Roosevelt was President.
Roosevelt said anybody
who thought saccharin
caused cancer was an
idiot.
Studies since then have
shown that rats given
high doses of saccharin
get bladder cancer
Sandler said that
doses were a comttii
.criticism of the aniu
studies, but that this
an accepted method
testing.
“The only way to g
around the constraints c
time and number of ij
(Continued on Page 19
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Based on the study’s'
findings, one of its
authors said he . would
stop drinking coffee.
However, Sandler
said, “I think most peo
ple would not see this as
demonstrated evidence
that coffee causes
Hillsborough Road At LaSalle
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Lakewood Shopping Cen
East Franklin St. Chapi
cancer.
Studies such as the one