foodconsumer.org: Michael Douglas suffers throat cancer

Michael Douglas suffers throat cancer
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admin on 09/04/2010 19:47:00
 
On Tuesday night, Michael Douglas, a well-known American movie star and film
producer, revealed on David Letterman's "Late Show" that he was diagnosed with
stage 4 throat cancer earlier this summer and has been receiving chemotherapy
and radiotherapy for a week.
Mr. Douglas suspected something was amiss when he felt a persistent sore throat
that wouldn’t heal.  But it took a few months for Michael Douglas's doctors to
finally diagnose the disease, which understandably made Douglas's wife Catherine
Zeta-Jones, an award winning actress, furious.
Douglas told Letterman's audience that his doctors told him his survival rate is
80 percent, even though the prognosis is generally poor for a stage 4 throat
cancer, which can be one of several forms of head and neck cancers, including
cancers of the oral cavity, pharynx and larynx.
It remains unknown what type of throat cancer Mr. Douglas suffered. But he was
cited as saying that the malignancy was caused by smoking and drinking, both of
which are major, known risk factors for throat cancer.
Many lifestyle parameters can affect a person's risk of throat cancer, although
drinking, smoking, and infection of sexually transmitted HPV virus
(unfortunately nearly half of Americans will get it sooner or later -
fortunately it will not cause cancer in every one of those infected) can all
cause the disease.  A person's diet or what he eats may also play a role in the
risk.
A few studies are cited below for those food consumers who are interested in
learning how a person's diet may affect his risk of throat cancer. There is
strong evidence that dietary patterns and certain foods have been associated
with throat cancer risk.
One study, led by De Stefani E. and colleagues from Universidad de Clínicas,
Facultad de Medicina in Montevideo, Uruguay and published in March 2009 in
International Journal of Cancer, suggests that the prudent diet is negatively
associated with cancers of the upper aerodigestive tract, including throat
cancer.
The prudent diet consists of high amounts of fruits, vegetables, whole grains,
and low amounts of sweets and processed meats. This diet is often recommended to
prevent heart disease. But studies show that this diet is so healthful that is
also offers other benefits, such as preventing breast cancer.
Another case-control study, which analyzed 800 patients with confirmed cancers
of the oral cavity and pharynx, was led by Garavello W. and colleagues from
Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri in Milan, Italy. This study
revealed that a diversity of fruits and vegetables is associated with a 38 and
33 percent reduced risk of the oral and pharyngeal cancer, respectively.
Still another study found that consumption of dairy products was negatively
associated with cancers of the larynx and the esophagus while the consumption of
yellow/orange vegetables was inversely linked with oral/pharyngeal and laryngeal
cancer.
Preserved vegetables, on the other hand, were associated with an increased risk
of oral/pharyngeal and laryngeal cancer.
The study was conducted by Sapkota A. and colleagues of the International Agency
for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France and published in the Dec 2008 issue of
Cancer Causes and Control.
The protective effect of fruits and vegetables on throat cancer risk has been
known for a long time.
Deborah M. Winn and colleagues from the National Cancer Institute and published
a study in 1983 in Cancer Research that shows a high intake of fruits like
citrus fruit and vegetables including green vegetables, cruciferous vegetables,
and yellow vegetables was associated with a lower risk.
The study was based on data from 227 women in North Carolina with oral cavity or
pharyngeal cancer with 405 matched controls.
Specifically, those who ate moderate amounts of fruits and vegetables were 35
percent less likely to have the cancer and the risk for those who ate high
amounts was reduced by 48 percent, the researchers found.
Low risk was also found in those who had higher bread and cereal intake, whereas
meat and fish consumption was correlated with increased risk of oral and pharynx
cancer;dairy products and eggs, on the other hand, were not associated with the
cancer risk.
The researchers speculated that the vitamin C and/or beta-carotene intake may be
responsible for the reduction in the risk of the oral and pharyngeal cancer.
Other Foods that may help cut the risk of throat cancer include allium
vegetables like onions and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, according to early
studies.
Jimmy Downs and editing by Rachel Stockton