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Influence of Soluble Fibers on Experimental Colon Carcinogenesis

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Dietary Fiber

Abstract

The original fiber hypothesis of Burkitt (1971) proposed that a high consumption of fiber-containing foods is associated with a lower frequency of large bowel cancer. Although this association still seems valid, the mechanisms by which fiber-containing foods produce such an effect remain unclear. Furthermore, definitive clinical trials in humans to demonstrate the cancer-prevention properties of dietary fiber have yet to be successfully completed. In the meanwhile we have only the results from retrospective, correlation, and case-control studies in humans and controlled prospective studies in animals. In a recent review of the literature (Jacobs, 1988), I found that 62% of correlational and 48% of case-control studies showed evidence of a protective effect of dietary fiber. Moreover, out of the 11 case-control studies showing a protective effect, eight reports found vegetables to be the protective fiber-containing food. This suggests that not all fiber-containing foods are equally protective and that vegetables may be protective because of some ingredient they contain other than fiber. A further possible explanation is that not all forms of dietary fiber have a similar effect on colon carcinogenesis. Recent advances in the chemical analysis of dietary fibers and in our knowledge of the effects of fibers on gastrointestinal physiology have permitted a reanalysis of the fiber and cancer literature according to the physiochemical properties of individual fibers.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, USA

    Lucien R. Jacobs

  2. Section of Nutrition, Division of Gastroenterology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, 90048, USA

    Lucien R. Jacobs

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  1. Lucien R. Jacobs
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

    David Kritchevsky

  2. Astra Associates, Inc., McLean, Virginia, USA

    Charles Bonfield

  3. Veterans Administration Medical Center, Lexington, Kentucky, USA

    James W. Anderson

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© 1990 Plenum Press, New York

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Jacobs, L.R. (1990). Influence of Soluble Fibers on Experimental Colon Carcinogenesis. In: Kritchevsky, D., Bonfield, C., Anderson, J.W. (eds) Dietary Fiber. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0519-4_29

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0519-4_29

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-7846-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-0519-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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