Title: 
Professor Emeritus  

Institute:
University of Toronto

Department:  
Nutritional Sciences

Province:
Ontario

Training:  
BSc, Chemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
First two years of MD, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
MSc, Physics University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
PhD, Physics University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
MD, University of Chicago, Chicago, Il, USA  

Research interests:
Cancer prevention; Nutrition; Toxicology 

Career highlights:
Developed understanding of cellular, cell-cycle basis of action of chemotherapeutic agents on stem cells of normal hepatopoietic and lymphoma cells; Developed and tested a clinical protocol for testing the effectiveness of cancer prevention strategies for colorectal cancer; Identified (with Rangina Bird) the early putative precursors for colorectal cancer, the aberrant crypt foci (ACF).

Research Projects

Project title:
Dietary risk factors for colorectal cancer

Funding period:  
2010-2012

Program:
Operating Grant (Environment-cancer)

Summary: 
After nearly 35 years of searching for the cause of colon cancer, we now suggest that the cause is not due to a single factor but instead to the interaction of at least two factors, e.g. inflammation and the consumption of excess energy. Such interactions can result in the formation of highly toxic compounds called reactive carbonyls. Our project is to determine whether diets that increase inflammation and energy excess, result in colon cancer in rats.

CRS publications:
 
Zhang XM, Chan CC, Stamp D, Minkin S, Archer MC and Bruce WR.  Initiation and promotion of colonic aberrant crypt foci in rats by 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde in thermolyzed sucrose.  Carcinogenesis 14:773-775, 1993

Bruce WR, Archer MC, Corpet DE, Medline A, Minkin S, Stamp D, Ya Yin and Zhang X-M.  Diet, aberrant crypt foci and colorectal cancer.  Mutation Research 290:111-118, 1993.

El-Sohemy A, Kendall CWC, Rao AV, Archer MC and Bruce WR. Dietary cholesterol inhibits the development of aberrant crypt foci in the colon. Nutr Cancer 25: 111-117, 1996.

Tran TT, Medline A and Bruce WR. Insulin promotion of colon tumors in rats. Cancer  Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention 5: 1013-1015, 1996.

Bruce WR and Corpet DE. The colonic protein fermentation and insulin resistance hypothesis for colon cancer etiology: experimental tests using precursor lesions. European Journal of Cancer Prevention 5 (Supplement 2): 41-47, 1996.

Koohestani N, Tran TT, Lee W, Wolever TMS and Bruce WR. Insulin resistance and promotion of aberrant crypt foci in the colons of rats on a high fat diet. Nutrition & Cancer 29: 69-76, 1997.

Yang CM, Gray AA, Archer MC and Bruce WR. Rapid quantitation of thermal oxidation products in fats and oils by 1H NMR spectroscopy. Nutrition & Cancer, 30: 64-68, 1998.

Yang CM, Kendal, Stamp D, Medline, Archer MC and Bruce WR. Thermally oxidized dietary fat and colon carcinogenesis in rodents. Nutrition & Cancer, 30: 69-73, 1998.

Koohestani N, Chia MC, Pham N-A, Tran TT, Minkin S, Wolever TMS and Bruce WR. Aberrant crypt focus promotion and glucose intolerance: correlation in the rat across diets differing in fat, n-3 fatty acids and energy. Carcinogenesis 19:1679-1684, 1998.

Bruce WR, Wolever TMS and Giacca A. Mechanisms linking diet and colorectal cancer: the possible role of insulin resistance. Nutrition & Cancer 37: 19-26, 2000.

Naigamwalla D, Chia MC, Tran TT, Medline A, Hay K, Gallinger S and Bruce WR. Polyethylene glycol 8000 and colon carcinogenesis: inhibition in the F344 rat, promotion in the Min mouse. Cancer Research 60: 6856-6858, 2000.

Bruce WR, Giacca A and Medline A. Possible mechanisms relating diet and risk of colon cancer. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention 9: 1271-1279, 2000.

Bruce WR, Giacca A and Medline A. Possible mechanisms relating diet to colorectal cancer risk. In “Nutrition and Lifestyle: Opportunities for Cancer Prevention” IARC Scientific Publication No. 156, E. Riboli and R. Lambert editors, IARC Press, Lyon, pp 277-281, 2003.

Tran TT, Gupta N, Goh T, Naigamwalla D, Chia MC, Koohestani N, Mehrotra S, McKeown-Eyssen G, Giacca A, Bruce WR. Direct measure of insulin sensitivity with the hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp and surrogate measures of insulin sensitivity with the oral glucose tolerance test: correlations with aberrant crypt foci promotion in rats. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 12: 47-56, 2003.

Bruce WR. From animal models to prevention of colon cancer: Counterpoint. Criteria for proceeding from preclinical studies and choice of models for prevention studies. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 12:401-404, 2003.

Ward WE, Kim S and Bruce WR. A western diet reduces bone mass and biomechanical bone strength to a greater extent in male compared to female rats during development. British Journal of Nutrition 90: 589-595, 2003.

Bruce WR, Furrer R, Shangari N, O'Brien P, Medline A, Wang Y. Marginal Dietary Thiamin Deficienccy Induces the Formation of Colonic Aberrant Crypt Foci (ACF) in Rats. Cancer Letters 202:125-129, 2003.

Karlsson PC, Hughes R, Rafter JJ, Bruce WR. Polyethylene glycol reduces inflammation and aberrant crypt foci in carcinogen-initiated rats. Cancer Letters 223: 203-209, 2005.

Bruce WR, Cirocco M, Giacca M, Kim Y-I, Marcon N, Minkin S. A pilot controlled trial to reduce colorectal cancer risk markers associated with B-vitamin deficiency, insulin deficiency and colonic inflammation. Brit J Cancer 93: 639-646, 2005.

Tran TT, Naigamwalla D, Oprescu AI, Lam L, McKeow-Eyssen G, Bruce WR, Giacca A. Hyperinsulinemia, but not other factors associated with insulin resistance, acutely enhances colorectal proliferation in vivo. Endocrinology 147: 1830-1837, 2006.

Past CRS projects:

2001 Diet, colonic inflammation and colon cancer risk:  Studies with calprotectin.

1999 Metabolic pathogenesis of colon cancer.

1994 Oxidized fat in the diet and colon cancer risk

1992 Thermolyzed carbohydrate in the diet and colon cancer risk