DIET, ANTHROPOMETRY AND BREAST-CANCER - INTEGRATION OF EXPERIMENTAL AND EPIDEMIOLOGIC APPROACHES

The interrelationships of dietary fat and energy, growth rates and ant hropometry, and breast carcinogenesis have been examined by a diverse array of approaches throughout the last 50 y as new investigative tool s have been developed by laboratory scientists and epidemiologists. A consensus among investigators has not emerged, however, and dietary re commendations for breast cancer prevention have not been clearly formu lated or effectively communicated to the public. Indeed, the gap betwe en those investigators utilizing laboratory-based approaches and those using epidemiologic models has expanded in recent years. Cancer epide miologists have become increasingly skeptical that results derived for m laboratory animal models of breast carcinogenesis and in vitro syste ms are directly applicable to human breast cancer risk. Concurrently, laboratory scientists have questioned the ability of epidemiological t ools to accurately measure dietary intake and relevant biomarkers and to account for a diverse array of potentially confounding environmenta l and genetic factors characteristic of human populations under study. These polarized views are reinforced by a failure of investigators us ing diverse approaches to interact, integrate their skills and resourc es, develop novel hypotheses, and propose solutions using both laborat ory and epidemiologic techniques. Therefor, the objectives of this sym posium are to summarize experimental and epidemiologic knowledge, fost er communication and collaboration, and attempt to identify appropriat e studies to bridge the gaps in our knowledge concerning dietary lipid and energy, anthropometrics, and breast cancer risk.