ABSTRACT
Cancer-a multidisease phenomenon-remains as much a mystery nowadays as it was when first described as karkinos (meaning “new growth,” from the Greek word for “crab”). We have learned much about this disease in the last century; yet as a collection of maladies “contrary to nature” (1), not nearly enough is understood to stem the devastating tide that has begun to consume more and more lives around the globe as population life spans lengthen. Known causes of cancer include both exter nal factors (chemicals, radiation, viruses) and internal factors (hormones, immune conditions, inherited genes) as well as aging. Diet seems to be targeted as a major causative, but the growing volume of information is often contradictory.
