[Position of dietary factors in large bowel cancers (author's transl)]

Epidemiological studies suggest that environmental factors, especially dietary ones, are more relevant in the causation of large bowel cancer than host factors. High meat and high-fat, low-fiber and low-vegetable diets appear to be the most plausible etiological candidates. Metabolic epidemiology and experimental studies point out that changes in the composition of the intestinal bacteria and of the neutral sterol and bile acid excretion are likely to yield colon tumor promoters. Implications of the available data are discussed in terms of colon cancer prevention.