Second Expert Report
WCRF/AICR Second Expert Report Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity and the Prevention of Cancer: a Global Perspective, is the most current and comprehensive analysis of the literature on diet, physical activity and cancer. It builds on the foundation, first established by the WCRF global network in 1982, to analyse, interpret and make public the available scientific evidence to help individuals reduce their risk of developing cancer.
This work began in 1982 when the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) took the US National Academy of Science Expert Report Diet and Cancer and sought permission to print and distribute 30,000 copies to scientists, policy makers and health professionals in the USA.
WCRF/AICR continued the tradition by publishing its own report, Food, Nutrition and the Prevention of Cancer: a Global Perspective, in 1997. This report was a catalyst for change, creating great opportunities for advancement in the area of diet and cancer prevention. Its publication stimulated a surge in research in the field.
Since then, advances in technology have revolutionised the way that information is collected and analysed. As a result, in 2001, WCRF/AICR set itself a new objective: to systematically review and assess the body of evidence on diet, physical activity and cancer and to publish a Second Expert Report. This report, launched in November 2007, is the largest study of its kind and its conclusions are as definitive as the available evidence allows.
Our continuous commitment to research
The Second Expert Report identified 11 research directions (listed in section 3 of our Grant Application Package) to build on the current base of knowledge in the area of diet, nutrition, physical activity, body composition and cancer.
The research directions identified in the report aim to increase understanding of the cancer process, including cancer initiation, promotion, progression and metastasis, but also are often interdisciplinary and address issues that could help translate research into action to prevent cancer.
These research directions are for the whole research community working in the field of nutrition and cancer. We hope that the research community will respond to these challenges and conduct high quality research in these areas.
As part of this effort, the WCRF global network through its grant programmes aims to support research in some of these areas (our research priorities) by funding the best applications as identified through our review process.
To access the Second Expert Report online, visit the Diet and Cancer Report website.
The methodology behind the report
“The method that works when we ask anybody will you please look at the world literature for this cancer or this cancer or this cancer, they would capture all of the information that is available across the world, and put it together in an appropriate way, a standard way, and then present it to another group of scientists, who are experienced in the different areas, to look at and say, when we look at the world literature, this is how we interpret it.” - (Alan Jackson, University of Southampton, UK)
“The main difference are the improvements of the systematic literature review.” - (Junshi Chen, Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, China)
The process for producing the second report involves three steps - first, our methodology taskforce developed the methodology used in the systematic literature reviews; second, systematic literature review teams find and review all the research on the links between diet, nutrition and cancer; third, the expert panel evaluates and interprets the assembled evidence and develops recommendations. - (Narrator)