(Ann was able to attend the first day of this-the 91st Annual Conference, held in San Francisco.) This is the third year that I have attended this event. Over 10,000 researchers from all over the world were there. Day One is a Public Forum for cancer survivors and others. Well-known researchers and doctors speak about current issues. At this one, several patients spoke as well. One, Melissa B. Yazman, a pancreatic cancer survivor, spoke very movingly about her experiences in a clinical trial. She told the audience that she took the chemotherapy AND did Traditional Chinese Medicine with herbs, the whole time. She ate carefully and did many of the things recommended on this site. She credited her continued (over 3 years) survival to this combination. Dr. John Potter spoke. He is a researcher in fruits and vegetables and cancer. He mentioned that the first two studies on the importance of fruits and vegetables in reducing cancer risk, were published in 1933. Lung cancer is ALWAYS in the top 5 for cancer deaths in ALL countries. It is the #1 cause of cancer death in the United States. SO QUIT SMOKING! Dr. Potter stated that one pound of vegetables a day will reduce the risk of cancer by 1/2. Almost 200 epidemiological studies (population-based) have been done on the use of fruits and vegetables. 75% of these show a benefit in eating these foods. Scientific language says: A statistically significant inverse relationship to longevity. This means you can live longer if you eat more fruits and vegetables. This impacts on all types of disease, not just cancer. Dr. Potter suggested that people limit their intake of red meat to 3 ounces a day (about the size of a deck of cards). He prefers a diet of fish and poultry with 15-30 ounces of fruits and vegetables daily. Dr. Margaret Tempero of the University of California San Francisco Medical Center (UCSF), told the audience that much more research is being done on the immune system. Scientists now believe that the immune response is very important. Ann's NOTE: This is support for the idea of living a healthy lifestyle to build the body to fight disease. My own personal situation has shown me that some combination of jucing, healthy eating-lots of (organic)vgetables and fruits, healthy fats (flaxseed oil and olive oil), along with dietary supplements, exercise, detoxification etc., DO MATTER. I have grown stronger and healthier over the 7 years since I got a cancer diagnosis. When the audience got its chance to ask questions, many of them were about 'alternative' therapies. The response, unfortunately, was just the same as it has been in prior years-sorry, no studies have been done on that. People got frustrated since our need for answers is immediate. I had a chance to speak to some of the leaders of the AACR. They assured me that more and more work was being done on natural products. Indeed there were many studies on green tea-but that was true three years ago, and still none of them are human studies. I have brought home many abstracts that deal with natural products and this information will be placed here shortly. Am Assoc Cancer Research 2000 Another view of AACR Remember we are NOT Doctors and have NO medical training. This site is like an Encylopedia - there are many pages, many links on many topics. Support our work with any size DONATION - see left side of any page - for how to donate. You can help raise awareness of CAM.