Current opportunities to catalyze research in nutrition and cancer prevention - an interdisciplinary perspective

Abstract

Cancer Research UK and Ludwig Cancer Research convened an inaugural international Cancer Prevention and Nutrition Conference in London on December 3-4, 2018. Much of the discussion focused on the need for systematic, interdisciplinary approaches to better understand the relationships of nutrition, exercise, obesity and metabolic dysfunction with cancer development. Scientists at the meeting underscored the importance of studying the temporal natural history of exposures that may cumulatively impact cancer risk later in life.A robust dialogue identified obesity as a major risk for cancer, and the food environment, especially high energy and low nutrient processed foods, as strong and prevalent risk factors for obesity. Further engagement highlighted challenges in the post-diagnostic setting, where similar opportunities to understand the complex interplay of nutrition, physical activity, and weight will inform better health outcomes.Going forward, holistic research approaches, encompassing insights from multiple disciplines and perspectives, will catalyze progress urgently needed to prevent cancer and improve public health.

Keywords: Cancer prevention; Developmental origins; Diet; Epidemiology; Epigenetics; Interdisciplinary; Metabolism; Nutrition; Obesity; Physical activity; Public health.

Fig. 1

Robert Strausberg, PhD, is Deputy Scientific Director for the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research. His scientific focus is on interdisciplinary approaches to improve the health of people worldwide through disease prevention and early intervention. Previously, he was Deputy Director of the J. Craig Venter Institute and served in leadership positions at the National Human Genome Research Institute, the National Cancer Institute, and the Institute for Genomic Research

Fig. 2

Fiona Reddington is Head of Population, Prevention and Behavioural Research Funding at Cancer Research UK and oversees the research portfolio in the areas of population research, prevention and early diagnosis. Following her BSc in Pharmacology and PhD in Neurophysiology, she went on to join the NHS as a project manager and subsequently moved into management roles at a national cancer network and the NCRI Informatics Initiative

Fig. 3

Walter Willett is Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts. He served as Chair of the Department of Nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health for 25 years. He has published over 2000 articles, primarily on lifestyle risk factors for heart disease and cancer, and has written the textbook Nutritional Epidemiology

Fig. 4

Elio Riboli holds an MD degree and an MPH from the University of Milan and a MSc in Epidemiology from Harvard University. In 1990, he initiated the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition, a large population-based cohort designed to investigate the role of diet, nutrition and metabolic factors in the etiology of cancer and other chronic diseases. In 2006, he moved to Imperial College, where he became the first Director of the Imperial School of Public Health (2008–2017) and continues his research in the field of nutritional epidemiology of cancer

Fig. 5

Richard Martin is a Professor of Clinical Epidemiology at the University of Bristol and Honorary Consultant in Public Health. His research interests include cancer epidemiology, the application of causal analysis methods to strengthen the evidence for developing primary and tertiary prevention interventions, and the identification of -omic biomarkers for secondary prevention

Fig. 6

Edward Giovannucci graduated from Harvard University in 1980, received an MD from University of Pittsburgh in 1984, and then completed a doctoral degree in epidemiology from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in 1992, where he is currently a Professor in the Departments of Nutrition and Epidemiology. His research focuses on how nutritional, environmental, and lifestyle factors relate to various cancers

Fig. 7

Marc Gunter is Head of the Section of Nutrition and Metabolism at the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the specialized cancer research agency of the World Health Organization. Dr. Gunter’s research focuses on the role of nutrition, diabetes, and obesity in the natural history of cancer, with an emphasis on metabolic dysfunction and in particular the insulin/IGF/mTOR pathway. He is principal investigator of a number of studies applying high dimensional metabolic profiling within the framework of large prospective and clinical cohorts, as well as intervention studies to identify novel biochemical pathways involved in cancer development and prognosis

Fig. 8

Hal Drakesmith was trained at the University of Cambridge, University of Kyoto, and University College London before moving to the University of Oxford. His laboratory in the MRC Human Immunology Unit at the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine works on the interaction of iron homeostasis with immunity, metabolism, anemia, and inflammation

Fig. 9

Karin B. Michels, ScD, PhD, is Professor and Chair of the Department of Epidemiology at the UCLA School of Public Health in Los Angeles, California. Her research interests include cancer, nutritional, and epigenetic epidemiology. She has made seminal contributions to elucidating the early life origins of cancer, specifically breast cancer

Fig. 10

Robert A. Waterland, PhD, is a Professor of Pediatrics and Molecular and Human Genetics at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. His research focuses on understanding epigenetic mechanisms in the developmental origins of health and disease

Fig. 11

Rebecca J Beeken, PhD, is a tenure-track Yorkshire Cancer Research University Academic Fellow at the University of Leeds. Her academic background is in behavioral science and health psychology, and her primary research interest is in behavior change for cancer prevention and control. Rebecca currently co-leads a Cancer Research UK-funded program of work exploring the efficacy of a brief, habit-based intervention for improving dietary and physical activity behaviors in people living with a diagnosis of cancer

Fig. 12

Linda Bauld is the Bruce and John Usher Professor of Public Health at the University of Edinburgh, Deputy Director of the UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies, and holds the CRUK/BUPA Chair in Cancer Prevention at Cancer Research UK. She is a behavioral scientist with a particular interest in the primary prevention of cancer and has conducted a range of studies to inform or evaluate policies and programs to address tobacco, alcohol, and overweight and obesity. She is a former scientific adviser on tobacco control to the UK government and is a member of a number of policy and research funding committees in the UK, Canada, and Europe

Fig. 13

Hilary Powers is Professor Emerita at the University of Sheffield, UK. Her research has focused on micronutrients and cancer risk, at the epidemiology and molecular level. She has worked extensively with World Cancer Research Fund International on their reports into food, nutrition, physical activity, and cancer prevention

Fig. 14

Jessica Brand is a Research Funding Manager in the Population, Prevention and Behavioural Research team at Cancer Research UK (CRUK) with a specific focus on the prevention elements of the portfolio. Having completed a BSc in Chemistry, she worked in academic journal publishing at the Royal Society of Chemistry, before moving onto project managing small researcher support grant schemes. Other roles in grant management followed, and she has been with CRUK since August 2017

Fig. 15

Rachel Reinhardt is the Vice President for Communications at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research. Prior to that, she held communications leadership positions at the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, and France Telecom North America. Rachel is a graduate of Yale University with a dual degree in French and International Studies