A HOUSE OF PROTEINS 37Every single rat fed 20 % protein got liver cancer or its precursor lesions,
but not a single animal fed a 5% protein diet got liver cancer or its pre-
cursor lesions. It was not a trivial difference; it was 100% versus 0%.
This was very much consistent with my observations for the Philippine
children. Those who were most vulnerable to liver cancer were those
who consumed diets higher in protein.
No one seemed to accept the report from India. On a flight from De-
troit after returning from a presentation at a conference, I traveled with
a former but much senior colleague of mine from MIT, Professor Paul
Newberne. At the time, Newberne was one of the only people who had
given much thought to the role of nutrition in the development of can-
cer. I told him about my impressions in the Philippines and the paper
from India. He summarily dismissed the paper by saying, "They must
have gotten the numbers on the animal cages reversed. In no way could
a high-protein diet increase the development of cancer."
I realized that I had encountered a provocative idea that stimulated
disbelief, even the ire of fellow colleagues. Should I take seriously the
observation that protein increased cancer development and run the risk
of being thought a fool? Or should I turn my back on this story?
In some ways it seemed that this moment in my career had been fore-
shadowed by events in my personal life. When I was five years old, my
aunt who was living with us was dying of cancer. On several occasions
my uncle took my brother Jack and me to see his wife in the hospital.
Although I was too young to understand everything that was happen-
ing, I do remember being struck by the big "C' word: cancer. I would
think, "When I get big, I want to find a cure for cancer."
Many years later, just a few years after getting married, at about the
time when I was starting my work in the Philippines, my wife's mother
was dying of colon cancer at the young age of fifty-one. At that time, I
was becoming aware of a possible diet -cancer connection in our early
research. Her case was particularly difficult because she did not receive
appropriate medical care due to the fact that she did not have health
insurance. My wife Karen was her only daughter and they had a very
close relationship. These difficult experiences were making my career
choice easy: I would go wherever our research led me to help get a bet-
ter understanding of this horrific disease.
Looking back on it, this was the beginning of my career focus on diet
and cancer. The moment of deciding to investigate protein and cancer
was the turning point. If I wanted to stay with this story, there was only