THE CHINA STUDY -- CANCER EXCERPTS, Pages 48-66

China Study Background:

The China Study came about after the Premier of China, Chou EnLai, was dying of cancer and wanted to understand why. China connected with Dr. T. Colin Campbell – an already renowned nutrition and cancer researcher who was heavily immersed in a study analyzing rats and the affect of foods and cancer – to embark on what is now the most comprehensive and ambitious biomedical research project ever undertaken in the history of mankind. Its analysis of cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, autoimmune diseases, and bone, kidney, brain and eyes diseases and their relationship to protein is still ongoing since its inception in the early 1980s. However, its conclusions to date are profound.

This study took place over 3 continents and 2,400 Chinese counties in areas where the native people were the majority. One of the fascinating results was that this study backed earlier studies proving that genetics is only responsible for 2-3% of the total cancer risk. Based on a common sense approach, it is highly possible that cancer is largely due to environmental/lifestyle factors and not genetics. Below you will find information taken from the book that supports these statements.

  1. Understanding Why We Need to Act

    2. Back in 2000, the leading causes of death were:
    • Diseases of the Heart - 710,760
    • Cancer - 553,091
    • Medical Care - 225,400
    • Stroke - 167,661
    • Chronic Lower Respiratory Diseases - 122,009
    • Accidents - 97,900
    • Diabetes Mellitus* - 69,301
    • Influenza and Pneumonia - 49,558

  2. Understanding Cancer

    3. Cancer is initiated by the introduction of carcinogenic substances. In The China Study, Dr. Campbell studied Aflatoxins – toxic and carcinogenic forms of mold – and their relationship to protein with regards to cancer. There are many types of carcinogenic substances in the form of chemicals that establish cancer cells in the body. These chemicals are most often the byproducts of industrial processes. These carcinogens genetically transform, or mutate, normal cells into cancer-prone cells. A mutation involves permanent alteration of the genes of the cell, with damage to its DNA.

  3. The Three Stages of Cancer

    4. Cancer proceeds through three stages: initiation, promotion and progression. To use a rough analogy, the cancer process is similar to planting a lawn. Initiation is when you put the seeds in the soil, promotion is when the grass starts to grow and progression is when the grass gets completely out of control, invading the driveway, the shrubbery and the sidewalk.

      A. The Initiation Stage:

      Is the time required for the chemical carcinogen to be consumed, absorbed into the blood, transported into the cells, changed into its active product, bonded to DNA and passed on to the daughter cells. When the new daughter cells are formed, the process is complete. These daughter cells and their offspring will forever be genetically damaged, giving rise to the potential for cancer. Except in rare instances, completion of the initiation phase is considered irreversible.

      B. The Promotion Stage:

      Like seeds ready to sprout blades of grass and turn into a green lawn, our newly formed cancer-prone cells are ready to grow and multiply until they become a visibly detectable cancer. This stage occurs over a far longer period of time than initiation, often many years for humans.
      Like seeds, the cancer-prone cells will not germinate unless they have all the necessary factors. If any of these factors are missing, the growth will cease. This is one of the most profound features of promotion. Promotion is reversible, depending on whether the early cancer growth is given the right conditions in which to grow. This is where certain dietary factors become so important. Dietary factors, called promoters, feed cancer growth while other dietary factors, called anti-promoters, slow cancer growth. When anti-promoters prevail, cancer growth slows or stops. The reverse is true when promoters prevail.

      C. The Progression Stage:

      This stage begins when a bunch of advanced cancer cells progress in their growth until they have done their final damage like the fully-grown lawn invading everything around it. Likewise, a developing cancer cell may wander away from its initial site in the body and invade neighboring or distant tissues. The cancer is not considered malignant. When it actually breaks away from its initial location and wanders, that is called metastasizing. The final stage of cancer results in death.

  4. Protein Intake and Cancer Initiation

    5. The China Study examined proteins and how they altered tumor growth by changing how aflatoxin is detoxified by the enzymes present in the liver. The study concluded that enzyme activity could be easily modified simply by changing the level of protein intake.
    Decreasing protein intake not only greatly decreased enzyme activity, but also did so very quickly. In other words, less aflatoxin was being converted into the dangerous aflatoxin metabolite that had the potential to bind and to mutate the DNA. The study ultimately concluded that low-protein diets, or their equivalents, reduced tumors via 5 different mechanisms:
    • Less aflatoxin entered the cell
    • Cells multiplied more slowly
    • Multiple changes occurred within the enzyme complex to reduce its activity
    • The quantity of critical components of the relevant enzymes was reduced
    • Less aflatoxin-DNA adducts were formed

  5. Animals Proteins vs. Plant Proteins

    6. Not all proteins are alike. In these experiments, plant protein did not promote cancer growth, even at the higher levels of intake. Gluten, the protein of wheat, did not produce the same result as casein (milk protein) even when fed at the same 20% level.

  6. Reducing Animal Protein

    7. As animal protein relates to cancer, The China Study showed that if you consume the 8% or less of animal protein in your diet you will avoid cancer or tumor growth and keep any cancer cells dormant. Dr. Campbell points out that in America we are averaging 15-16% of our calories from protein and 80% of this from animal-based foods. This number we believe is higher in children based on analyzing National School Lunch Program menus. This means we need a 40-50% reduction in animal-protein intake in America in order to prevent this disease. We don’t have to stop eating animal protein, we just need to eat a lot less.

  7. Why Rats Were Used As Test Subjects

    • Rats and humans have the same identical need for protein.
    • Protein operates in humans virtually the same as it does in rats.
    • The level of protein intake causing tumor growth is the same level that humans consume.
    • In both rodents and humans the initiation stage is far less important than the promotion stage of the cancer. This is because we are very likely dosed with a certain amounts of carcinogens in our daily lives. Whether they lead to full tumors depends on their promotion or lack their of.