LONDON - Cancer is preventable and eating less meat and more fruits and vegetables could reduce cases of the disease by up to 40% a year, medical experts said Thursday.
"Dietary imbalance is a cause of cancer," Dr. Tony McMichael of the University of London told a news conference to launch a major report by the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) on nutrition and cancer.
"We are running the human biological engine on the wrong type of food," he added.
People should change to a more plant-based diet and meat, if eaten at all, should be limited to less than three ounces or one portion a day, the study, the most comprehensive on diet and cancer ever undertaken, said.
"Meat, at most, should be considered as a garnish... not the central part of the diet," said John Potter, director of the Cancer Prevention Research program in Seattle, Wash.
He said the experts who compiled the report were convinced by several studies that the link between a meat-rich diet and the risk of bowel cancer was strong enough to justify recommending limits on meat consumption.
The WCRF report supported the findings of a British government study, also released Thursday, that suggested people should eat less meat to avoid bowel cancer.
The Committee on Medical Aspects of Food and Nutrition Policy (COMA) advised people who eat three ounces or more of meat a day to cut back their consumption.
Medical experts have long suspected links between high intake of animal fats and meat and development of cancer, but the authoritative WCRF report is the first to examine food and cancer prevention from a global perspective.
Potter, chairman of the report panel, said the manner in which meat is prepared could also be a source of risk.
The study suggested meat should be well-cooked and not charred. Grilled, cured and smoked meats should be eaten only occasionally.
Limiting alcohol consumption to two drinks a day for men and one for women, reducing sugar and salts, and doing daily exercise can also help to prevent cancer, it said.
"At least 20% of lung cancer, 33% of breast cancers and 66% of colon cancers are preventable by appropriate diets, together with the associated factors of regular physical activity and maintenance of healthy body weight.
"Together with no smoking, this means that 60-70% of cancers are preventable," the report said.
Every year up to 10 million new cancer cases are diagnosed and seven million people die from the disease. Unless action is taken, experts estimate the number of new cases and deaths will rise to 14 million by the year 2020.
"This is not an unimportant case of morbidity and it is preventable," said Potter.
British medical experts welcomed the report, saying it was a major step in improving people's diets.
"Cancer is an emotive issue and almost everyone has a friend or relative who's had, or is suffering from, the disease. If people know that diet can reduce cancer, it may change people's eating habits," Dr. Tim Key of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund (ICRF) said in a statement.
"It provides strong evidence for the role that diet plays in the prevention of cancer," said the British Dietetic Association.
But Sir Richard Doll, of the ICRF's clinical Trial Service Unit, was not thoroughly convinced. He agreed that a balanced diet would reduce the risk of developing cancer but added, "the jury is still out on the aspects of diet that cause cancer."
Fifteen scientists from nine countries worked on the report for three years. They assessed over 4,000 studies on diet and cancer before preparing the 650-page study, which will be distributed worldwide.
Potter described the report as a "call to action" to individuals, governments and policymakers.
"As global cancer rates rise, the cancer prevention message should be top of the public health agenda throughout the world."
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