Women who experienced a short but severe decrease in their food
intake during the 1944–1945 Dutch famine have an increased risk
of breast cancer compared with women whose caloric intake was
not as greatly affected, according to a study in the April 7
issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Several
animal studies have found that reducing caloric intake by one-
third to one-half for the animals' lifetime prevents various
types of cancer, but the implications of short-term caloric
restriction are largely unknown. However, reproducing these
types of studies in humans raises ethical and practical issues.
During World War II, a famine in the western part of The
Netherlands resulted from a food embargo imposed by German
authorities. Between 1983 and 1986, about 15,000 women
participating in a Dutch breast cancer screening program who
were between ages 2 and 33 during the 1944–1945 famine responded
to a questionnaire about their famine experience. Sjoerd G.
Elias, Ph.D., of the Julius Center for Health