Introductory Remarks

Abstract

In 1980, the National Cancer Institute commissioned the National Research Council to conduct, in the words of the Preface to the resulting report,1 “a comprehensive study of the scientific information pertaining to the relationship of diet and nutrition to cancer…[to] review…the state of knowledge and information pertinent to diet/nutrition and the incidence of cancer; develop a series of recommendations related to dietary components (nutrients and toxic contaminants) and nutritional factors which can be communicated to the public, and, based on the above state-of-the-art appraisals and the identification of gap areas, develop a series of research recommendations related to dietary components and nutritional factors and the incidence of cancer. ”