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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 production (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.
A large correlation coefficient (R) and a p value less than .05
suggests that there is a significant statistical relationship between
the dietary factor and the disease, although it does not prove that
the one causes the other. Negative R values indicate an inverse
relationship (e.g. the more vegetable source protein consumption,
the lower the incidence 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. 1765 Ala Moana Blvd. #1880 Honolulu, HI 96815 HARRISMDW001@hawaii.rr.com
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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