The food-derived heterocyclic amines
by Elisabeth G. Snyderwine
Introduction
01 Cancer
02 Ozone
03 Urban air
04 Air pollutants
05 Blue-green algae
06 Water mutagens
07 Contamination
08 Chernobyl
09 Radon
10 Medical geology
11 Renal hazards
12 Organohalogens
13 Estrogens
14 Food hazards
15 Mycotoxins
16 Poisoning
17 Genetics
18 Risk
(Excerpt from Chapter 14)
Formation of PhIP in muscle meats from the reaction of L-phenylalanine with creatine that occors during cooking. |
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Diets
One of the major risk factors for human cancer is lifestyle. Personal lifestyle choices such as smoking, exposure to sunlight, and intake of alcohol contribute to our risk. Diet is another important lifestyle factor in human cancer. Diet contains a complex mixture of organic and inorganic substances that not only serves as a source of nutrition but may also cause, modulate, and prevent human cancer.
Differences in lifelong dietary habits among different cultures and countries are associated with the variation in cancer incidence worldwide. Offspring of migrants acquire the cancer incidence rates of their new host country as dietary habits change to those of their new lifestyle. Asian countries such as Japan show a relatively high rate of stomach cancer that is linked to a heavy intake of cured and salted foods. In the western world, colorectal, breast and prostate cancer rates are high in comparison to third-world and Asian countries such as Japan. The high rate of these cancers may be associated with the consumption of a western-style diet which is typically rich in calories, cooked meat, and dietary fat. In the western diet, dietary fat comprises about 30 - 40% of total calories. In Japan, how-ever, where the incidence of these cancers is relatively low, carbohydrates are the major source of calories and dietary fat constitutes only about 15% of total calories. Notably, the incidence of the 'western-world' cancers including colorectal and breast cancer has been rising in Japan as the traditional Japanese diet is replaced by a western-style diet.
Dietary components and cancer
What are the dietary components that influence human cancer? These components are categorized as macroconstitutents and microconstituents. The dietary macroconstituents that may modulate the risk of cancer include total calories, fats, and alcohol. As discussed above, a high intake of calories, fat, as well as alcohol may increase the risk of certain cancers such as those of the colorectum and mammary gland. Studies in laboratory animals have further supported the role of these macroconstituents in these cancers. Alcohol abuse is also associated with liver cancer, and alcohol consumption is associated with an increase in the risk of smoking-related esophageal cancer.
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Elizabeth G. Snyderwine holds a Ph.D. in Pharmacology from East Carolina University School of Medicine (Greenville, North Carolina). She was a postdoctoral fellow in Environmental Toxicology at Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health (Baltimore, Maryland) prior to joining the Laboratory of Experimental Carcinogenesis at the National Cancer Institute (Bethesda, Maryland) in 1986. Her research interests include food-derived arylamine carcinogenesis, metabolism, DNA adduct formation, diet and mammary gland carcinogenesis.
