
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 3, 1991                   TAG: 9104030331
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

STUDY LINKS FIBER TO DECREASES IN BREAST CANCER

Eating foods high in fiber may help protect against breast cancer, researchers say in a study suggesting broader benefits for a substance already thought to help in preventing colon cancer.

In the study, to be published today in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, the researchers reported that laboratory rats fed high-fiber diets developed many fewer breast tumors than rats who received little or no fiber.

"We found that by doubling the amount of fiber in a diet that is similar to our Western diet, you can significantly reduce the amount of mammary cancer," said Leonard Cohen, a research scientist at the American Health Foundation in Valhalla, N.Y.

"It shows that the fiber itself contains substances which, when they get into the blood stream, will inhibit the formation of a mammary tumor," he said. "What seems to be happening is that fiber. . . is creating changes in the hormone system which protect against breast cancer."

The researchers' report said the way fiber might work against breast cancer seemed different between rats and humans, but they still said the new findings "suggest that dietary fiber may function as an antipromoting agent in human breast cancer."

by CNB