It bears repeating: Our message at AICR is evidence-based, not agenda-driven.

One of our 10 Recommendations for Cancer Prevention is to limit meat consumption. Our Expert Panel judged that the evidence linking diets high in red meat and processed meat to colorectal cancer is convincing.  So they said:

“To reduce your cancer risk, eat no more than 18 oz. (cooked weight) per week of red meats like beef, pork and lamb, and avoid processed meat such as ham, bacon, salami, hot dogs and sausages.”

In our materials, we show you how easy it is to follow that recommendation.  Our recipes de-emphasize meat in favor of vegetables, grains, beans and fruit.  We suggest ways to divide up those 18 ounces per week.  And we recommend saving hot dogs and sausage for special occasions.

Even so, our recommendation on meat isn’t popular with special interests.  Vegetarian groups don’t like it because it leaves room on the plate for moderate amounts of meat.

And the meat industry? They see our recommendation as an attack on their bottom line, and do everything they can to attack the recommendation, and the exhaustive report it came from.

Case in point: The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association has just released their own “technical summary” of the science on the meat-cancer link.  Three guesses what it concludes.

Now that they’ve published it themselves, the rest of the scientific community can finally get a look at this document members of the meat lobby have been talking about — but not showing to anyone — for two years.

So: How does it hold up to our Expert Report?  See for yourself.

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Very pleased to see this story on our recently updated expert report in yesterday’s PARADE Magazine.

Dr. Ranit Mishori‘s Stay Healthy column reminds readers that the recent controversy over mammograms should not distract women from the convincing evidence that diet, weight and physical activity make a big difference in lowering risk.

Includes a nice quote from AICR Director of Research Susan Higginbotham, PhD, RD.

A great way to start the week!

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This week’s study of soy consumption and breast cancer survivors in China has gotten some attention.

Over on the AICR website, we bottom-line the study results, and provide some evidence-based, practical advice for women who have had, or who are high risk for, breast cancer.

Note:  Soy is one of several much-studied foods featured on the Foods That Fight Cancer? section of the AICR website.

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On Monday, November 16, the United States Preventive Service Task Force (USPSTF) announced that it is changing its guidelines for mammography and no longer recommends routine screening for women between the ages of 40 and 49.

By pushing the recommended age to begin regular mammograms from 40 to 50, the task force’s stated goal is to prevent harm caused by “false positive” results seen among 40 to 49 year olds.

What will AICR do? Are we changing our materials on breast cancer to reflect this new development?

The short answer: Not yet.

Follow this link for the longer answer, and the reasons behind it.

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The New York Times says so, in a front-page article on the status of cancer prevention research.

But experts at the major national and international cancer research organizations — including many who attended the 2009 AICR Research Conference (a scientific meeting devoted entirely to the study of lifestyle’s role in cancer prevention, treatment and survival) — strongly disagree with the article’s characterization of the science.

Read the latest AICR Fact Check to find out what the NYT‘s reporting didn’t cover.

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Dietitian Alice Bender‘s job here at AICR is to take the research we fund and turn it into practical advice for the public.  Last week was the first time Alice attended an AICR Research Conference.  She attended sessions, blogged a bit, hosted one of the roundtable discussions which were created to help the health professionals who attended our conference network with one another, and anchored our press conference, where she released the results of AICR’s biennial survey on cancer risk factors.

Now that the conference is behind us and things are starting to settle down, we were eager to get her impressions.

Q: What was the most exciting part of the conference for you?

A: Finishing the press conference (laughs)– because once it was over I could really  focus on the research that was being presented.  Actually, there were many highlights – the first one was dinner with [AICR Nutrition Advisor] Karen Collins and Diana Dyer [a cancer survivor/RD and longtime friend of AICR; sales of Diana's book go towards an special endowment at AICR for research on cancer survivorship.]  It was an exhilarating conversation that stretched to four hours before we knew it — we talked about all kinds of things related to nutrition, organics, sustainability and AICR.

Q: This was your first AICR conference. How’d it compare to what you expected?

A: It was even better than thought it would be. I knew there were going to be many presentation on basic research, but I was surprised — pleasantly so — to see the talks including so much applied information.  It was a nice mix of the science and its real-world implications.

After the jump: Alice talks networking, messaging and new technologies. (more…)

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Every issue of AICR’s biweekly e-publication, Cancer Research Update, delivers exactly what its title promises: Quick summaries of the latest research on diet, physical activity, weight and cancer, delivered straight to your inbox.

Have you subscribed yet? It takes only a few seconds.

The latest issue of CRU is a special edition: We present highlights from last week’s AICR Research Conference on Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity and Cancer – including the study that won top honors at our poster session.

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Lots of folks buzzing at the registration table about our front-page story in USA Today…today.

Nice CBS Radio piece, too.  And we haven’t even had the press conference yet….

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