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Breast Cancer Statistics
"Cancer mortality statistics in 33 countries of the world were compiled
and calculated from data edited from a magnetic tape copy of the World Health Organization
(WHO) data base of cancer mortality." (1.)
Using this, I checked for correlations between female breast cancer mortality rates in the
30 countries for which data was available, and food and environmental factors collected
from various other sources (2, 3, 4).
The highest correlation (R=.79, p much less than .01) was between breast cancer and animal
source Calorie consumption (see graph below).
There was a lower but still significant correlation between breast cancer
mortality and milk consumption (R=.55, p=.001). This would support the hypothesis (5.)
that estrogens and insulin-like growth factor (IGF-I) in cow's milk stimulate breast
cancer. (see graph below)
Multiple regression analysis showed some additional correlations. The larger
the correlation coefficient (R), and the smaller the p value (which must be less than .05
to be significant), the greater the likelihood that the correlation is of a causal nature.
Negative R values indicate an inverse relationship (e.g. the more vegetable source protein
consumption, the lower the risk of breast cancer).
Multiple regression by BMDP (5.):
| Variable |
Partial_R |
p value |
| animal source calories/day |
0.7897 |
1.3E-07 |
| Animal fat/day (gm) |
0.7807 |
2.1E-07 |
| Total fat/day (gm) |
0.7767 |
2.1E-07 |
| Animal protein (gm/day) |
0.7029 |
1.0E-05 |
| Meat Kg/caput/year |
0.6937 |
1.5E-05 |
| Animal source calcium (mg/day) |
0.6401 |
0.0001 |
| Total Calories/day |
0.6071 |
0.0003 |
| Milk production (lbs/caput/day) |
0.5521 |
0.0013 |
| Total protein (gm/day) |
0.533 |
0.002 |
| GNP/cap($) |
0.5268 |
0.0023 |
| Female life expectancy (years) |
0.4661 |
0.0082 |
| Hen eggs (lbs/caput/day) |
0.353 |
0.0514 |
| Vegetable source calcium (mg/day) |
-0.1682 |
0.3657 |
| Vegetable source Calories/day |
-0.2864 |
0.1182 |
| Vegetable source protein (gm/day) |
-0.3607 |
0.0462 |
| Infant mortality |
-0.4123 |
0.0212 |
William Harris, M.D.
Medical Director
Kaiser-Permanente Vegan Lifestyle Clinic (VLC)
1010 Pensacola Street
Honolulu, HI 96814
(808) 597-2100 (W)
vegidoc@compuserve.com (no longer valid)
REFERENCES
(1.) Tominaga S., Aoki K, Fujimoto I, Kurihara M. Cancer Mortality and Morbidity
Statistics, Japan and the World-1994.
Japan Scientific Societies Press. CRC Press. 2000 Corporate Blvd., N.W. Boca Raton Fl
33431. ISBN 0-8493-7748-X
(2.)Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. FAO Production Yearbook.
Rome, 1987.
(3.) Kurian, George Thomas. The Book of World Rankings. Facts on File Inc.119 West 57th
St. New York, N.Y. 10019.
1979. ISBN 0-87196-394-9
(4.) Kurian, George Thomas. The New Book of World Rankings. Facts on File Inc.460 Park
Ave. So. New York, N.Y.
10016. 1991. ISBN 0-8160-1931-2.
(5.) Dairy products and breast cancer: the IGF-I, estrogen, and bGH hypothesis. Outwater
JL; Nicholson A; Barnard N. Med
Hypotheses (ENGLAND) Jun 1997, 48 (6) p453-61, ISSN 0306-9877.
(6.) BMDP Statistical Software. BMDP New System for Windows. Los Angeles, 1994. ISBN
0-935386-30-0.
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