Diet and Colon Cancer: Putting the Puzzle Together

Cancer of the colon and rectum is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in Western society. In the United States colorectal cancer is the second most common form of cancer in males and the third most common in females, with 138,000 new cases and 60,000 related deaths estimated for 1985. Colon or rectal cancer eventually develops in approximately 6 per cent of the American population, and 6 million Americans who are alive today will die of it. Despite the obvious importance of colorectal cancer and a voluminous body of scientific literature on the subject, our understanding of the cause.