The Nation - News from Sept. 24, 1989

In the largest ever study of its kind, researchers plan to survey 50 million people across the United States in search of links between life style and cancer, a researcher with the American Cancer Society reported. Researcher Joseph Cullen said the National Cancer Institute and the American Cancer Society will spend about $126 million to compile detailed data on the relationship between such things as diet and smoking and the incidence of cancers. Cullen estimated that 70% of cancers are caused by life style factors, and that the incidence could be halved in the next 15 to 20 years if people would stop smoking, stop drinking to excess, drastically cut down on intake of fat and drastically increase intake of vegetables.