CANCER MORTALITY AND AGE - RELATIONSHIP WITH DIETARY-FAT

Highly significant correlations exist between total cancer mortality a nd age expressed by a log total cancer mortality-log age equation (mea n r(2) 0.991 in men and 0.996 in women) or by a second-order polynomia l equation including age and age(2) (mean r(2) 0.999 in men and 0.998 in women). In all countries considered (n = 32), the second-order term of age is negative, indicating a decrease in the rate of rise of log cancer mortality at older age. This could be explained by a lesser acc uracy of the diagnosis of cancer at older age, by selective survival o f subjects resistant to cancer, by a cohort effect, or by a decrease i n the rate of growth of cancer al older age. The decrease in the rate of rise of cancer mortality, after 65 years of age occurs in all count ries and applies to nearly all cancers except breast cancer in women a fter 75 years of age. A high cancer mortality in a country is characte rized by a low intercept and a steep slope of the log mortality-log ag e equation. These parameters are influenced by dietary fat intake in m en and women, with saturated fat increasing total cancer mortality and the ratio of polyunsaturated to saturated fat and the ratio of unsatu rated to saturated fat decreasing it. The data on dietary fat were obt ained from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) food balance sheets (n = 32) and from dietary sunveys (n = 21). Both vary in the same direction, but only the dietary data from the F AO correlate significantly with cancer mortality. This finding points toward a relationship between the level of dietary fat intake and tota l cancer mortality at the population level.