Small changes in diet make a big difference.

• Position: Breast Cancer

About 12% of American women will cope with a breast cancer diagnosis. One prevention and survival strategy needs more attention--diet, maintains Linda deGraffenried, associate professor of nutritional sciences at the University of Texas, Austin. "Doctors and people diagnosed with cancer must focus more on what patients eat, because making simple changes in diet can significantly improve one's odds against breast cancer."

Americans' dependence on processed foods and convenient, budget-friendly fast foods contributes to cancer. Because the Western diet is high in omega-6 fatty acids, such as corn and soybean oil, and in simple sugars, many people experience low-grade inflammation linked to obesity. This increases the risk of breast cancer, especially post-menopause.

Inflammation also interferes with cancer treatment, deGraffenried points out. "Numerous studies have shown that obesity and the Western diet induce changes in the body that make surviving breast cancer more difficult. The immune system can't respond as it usually would, so many cancer therapies, including hormone and radiation therapy, have a harder time working effectively. This gives cancer more of a chance to progress, spreading and growing throughout the...