Nutrition and cancer

Question 1

What are the 5 types of cancer?

Answer 1

Carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, sarcoma, leukemia, lymphoma

Question 2

What types of DNA damage mechanisms can be induced by genotoxic carcinogens?

Answer 2

point mutations, deletions and insertions, recombinations, rearrangements, amplification, chromosome aberration, DNA adducts

Question 3

Genotoxic = \_\_\_components
Non-genotoxic = \_\_component

Answer 3

Genotoxic = Microcomponents
Non-geno = Macrocomponents

Question 4

Give some examples of toxic microcomponents

Answer 4

• Heterocyclic amines
• Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
• N-Nitrosamines
• Aflatoxin B1
• Alcohol

Question 5

What food product are heterocyclic amines found in?

What do they do in vivo?

Answer 5

Found in muscle meets at high cooking temperatures (bbq etc)

They form adducts with DNA bases and induce nitrnium ions -> bind to guanine and alter DNA sequence

Question 6

How are heterocyclic amines formed (biochemically)

Answer 6

Pyrolysis of proteins/amino acids/creatine

Question 7

What are the target organs of heterocyclic amines?

Answer 7

Stomach, oesophagus, colon, breast, prostate

Question 8

1) What is the genetic influence of HCA’s?
2) What are the activating enzymes?
3) What are the detoxifying enzymes?

Answer 8

1) Genetic polymorphisms in the genes that encode metabolizing enzymes for HCA activation or detoxificaion
E.g. NAT1, NAT2, GSTM1, GSTT1, SULTA1
2) Cyt P450 (CYP1A2), N-acetyl transferase
3) N-acetyl transferase (NAT2)

Question 9

How are N-Nitrosamines formed?

Answer 9

Binding of Nitrites and Nitrates to amino acids

Question 10

What does the GCP nutraceutical stand for and what is it’s medical use?

Answer 10

Genistein combined polysaccharide

Anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-angiogenesis

Question 11

What nutraceuticals have been tested for coronary heart disease?

Answer 11

Soy protein (genistein)
Stanol/sterol esters
Omega-3 oil
B-glucans

Question 12

What is the role of vitamin E in prostate cancer?
What are the food sources of vitamin E
Tocopherols and Tocotrienols?

Answer 12

Mitochondria-triggered intrinsic apoptosis (pro-apoptotic)
Tocopherols: nuts & vegetable oils
Tocotrienols: palm oil, oat, rye, wheat, rice bran

Question 13

What is the role of lycopene in preventing prostate cancer?

Answer 13

It is a cartotenoid antioxidant
Most efficient cartoenoid for scavenging oxygen radicals and interferes with cancer cell signalling
found in tomatoes

Question 14

What is the role of soy and isoflavones (found in tofu) in prostate cancer?

Answer 14

They are phytochemicals
Activa component - genistein
Genistein inhibits the enzyme tyrosine kinase - pro-apoptotic, inhibits prostate cancer cell growth

Question 15

What is the major catechin in green tea?

Answer 15

Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG)

Question 16

What are the common mechanisms of chemoprevention? (8)

Answer 16

Inhibit cell signalling
Anti-angiogenesis
Anti-invasive
Pro-apoptosis
Anti-proliferative 
Anti-inflammatory
Anti-oxidative
Anti-tumour

Question 17

What are some potential problems with nutraceuticals?

Answer 17

Only 1% tested
Contradictory information
Interactions unknown
Oral bioavailability
Metabolism
Specific tissue targetting

Question 18

What are the different types of nanoparticles? (4)

Answer 18

Polymer
Dendrimer
Liposomal
Iron oxide

Question 19

What cancer does poppy seeds, basil leaves and cumin seeds reduce?

Answer 19

squamous cell carcinoma

Question 20

Why is there increased risk of oral and oesophagael cance in india?

Answer 20

Reverse smoking and Paan chewing 
Salted tea with sodium bicarbonate
Sundried veg and chillies 
(high nitrosamine content)
Kalakhar from banana skin

Question 21

What is in deep fried vegetables and salted/sun-dried fish that can cause cervical cancer?

Answer 21

polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

Question 22

What are the components of a traditional Mediterranean diet?

Answer 22

high monounsaturated to saturated lipid ratio

• high fruit consumption
• high vegetable consumption
• high legume consumption
• high cereal consumption
• moderate-to-high fish consumption
• low-to-moderate milk/dairy consumption
• moderate ethanol consumption

Question 23

2-point increase in an Mediterranean Diet score associated with __% reduction in overall cancer mortality

Answer 23

2-point increase in an MD score associated with:

24% reduction in overall cancer mortality