§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has(a) undertaken and (b) evaluated into the risk posed to cancer patients by the consumption of antioxidants; and if he will make a statement. [15010]
§ Mr. BoatengNo research has been undertaken or evaluated by this Department into the risk posed to cancer patients by the consumption of antioxidants. The Medical Research Council, the main agency through which the Government supports medical and clinical research, provided support in 1995–96 for the following projects in the general area of antioxidants and the development of cancer, although these projects addressed the question of the anticarcinogenic effect of antioxidants rather than the effect of antioxidants on cancer once established
Mechanisms of modulation of carincogenesis by antioxidants: genetic control of the anticarcinogenic response in mice (MRC Toxicology Unit, Leicester);Prospective markers of antioxidant status in relation to future cardiovascular disease, lung and stomach cancer (MRC Dunn Nutrition Unit in Cambridge). This study was funded by the Department of Health's Policy Research Programme;the European Prospective investigation of Cancer (EPIC) which is a prospective study to identify dietary factors and dietary profiles which modify the risk for a range of chronic diseases including cancer. This takes the form of both direct support to the MRC Biostatistics Unit and grant support to participants;a human study at the MRC Dunn Nutrition Unit of an individual's lifetime nutritional habits and their relative risk of developing cancers of the breast and bowel.