The Review 2008

25 “Our findings will not only provide a novel therapeutic recipe and renewed hope for head and neck cancer sufferers, it will also show the public that only a slight change in diet can have a dramatic effect on health and cancer prevention,” one of the investigators, Professor Anthony Yuen Po-Wing of Surgery, said. Meanwhile, research into primary liver cancer has found dietary olive oil fat can also significantly reduce tumour size. Nude mice fed a diet high in virgin olive oil over four weeks saw their tumour volume reduced by 60 per cent. This was one of the first studies to look at dietary fat and liver cancer. Researchers also looked at the impact the olive oil was having at the genetic level. “In cancer research we’re interested in cell death and cell proliferation and we found that genes involved in these functions were affected by olive oil,” Dr Jennifer Wan of the School of Biological Sciences said. “The results open up the possibility of considering virgin oil a chemopreventive agent for [primary liver cancer]. This now needs to be confirmed with clinical trials.” Climate Change and War The impact of climate change on the environment is well documented, but new research suggests grave consequences for human society: more wars, famine and population collapse. Dr David Zhang Dian and Dr Harry Lee of the Depar tment of Geography uncovered the results in the world’s first quantitative and scientifically based study on the impact of climate change on pre-industrial societies. They analysed more than 3,000 wars around the world between 1400 and 1900 (a period known as the Little Ice Age), as well as agricultural production, food prices and population, and showed a relationship with weather patterns. “You can see the successive order, one after the other,” Dr Zhang said.“After a few years of global cooling, agricultural production goes down and prices go up. When the prices go up the number of wars goes up, too. It follows exactly this kind of order in both Europe and China,” even though they were at different political, cultural and development stages. Two peaks in the colder 17th and early 19th centuries saw the greatest population declines since 1400, while the relatively mild global weather in the 18th century coincided with one of the most peaceful of times. Dr Zhang believed the battle over resources was the reason for most wars and cautioned that the modern Dr David Zhang Dian world should heed the implications of extreme climatic changes. “Although this research investigates global cooling, this is a warning for our own societies facing a period of global warming. “The last 10 years has been the hottest period of the last two millennia. Such an abnormal climate change will surely tilt the balance of our human ecosystem. Even though scientists are unable to predict the chain ecological effects induced by climate change, we are afraid that it will lead to a shor tage of resources like fresh water, arable land and food that will trigger new armed conflicts.” Their findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , in December 2007. Research • The Review 2008 Finding New Links between Diet and Cancer University researchers investigating the effects of dietary compounds on cancer prevention and treatment have produced positive results for two troublesome cancers, head and neck cancer and liver cancer. Each of these cancers affects hundreds of thousands of people around the world each year and each has a low five-year survival rate. Researchers from the Depar tments of Chemistry and Surgery investigating head and neck cancer discovered that lupeol, an antioxidant found in figs, mangoes, strawberries and grapes, decreased tumour volume and suppressed its spread in mice. Moreover, it greatly enhanced the effectiveness of current chemotherapy treatment when the two were used in combination. The results were published in the journal Cancer Research in 2007. 24