Women with a history of breast cancer could lower the risk of recurrence by adhering to a very low-fat diet, according to investigators at the sixth annual research conference of the American Institute of Cancer Research.

Researchers from the UCLA School of Medicine presented results of a dietary "intervention'' that could decrease the risk of recurrence for women who have had breast cancer.

The very low-fat diet, in theory, results in changes in the composition of breast fat that could reduce the risk of recurrence, according to researchers.

"This represents a first step in understanding the mechanisms by which changes in diet can affect the risk of breast cancer and breast cancer recurrence,'' noted researcher Dr. John Glaspy of the Revlon/UCLA Women's Cancer Research Program.

Principle investigator Dr. Stephani Capone of UCLA told the Washington audience that a low fat diet resulted in s)significant decreases in levels of omega-6 fatty acids -- fatty acids that increase a cell's propensity to grow.

These acids have been linked to breast cancer in animals.

Conversely, the diet also yielded significant increases in omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids have been found to reduce cell growth and have also been touted by vitamin companies as having healing properties.

"We're hoping that this will translate into a decreased risk of cancer recurrence,'' said Capone.

A change in diet "does alter the biochemistry of the human breast in a measurable way, and that change in biochemical makeup is identical to changes that in the laboratory alter the growth of breast cancer cells,'' noted Glaspy.

*** Hot summer months usually mean brisk beer sales for liquor store owner Roosevelt Martin, but not this year.

"Price increases,'' Martin explained. "It cut down my business 30 to 40 percent because we sell more beer in the summer than anything.'' Beer prices have inched up about 3 percent in 1996 after holding relatively steady for the last three years. The price hike amounts to about 15 cents more for a six-pack.

And another increase may be on tap. Industry watchers say a two percent hike is possible this fall as companies try to boost profits in an era of mostly stagnant sales.

"This year, so far, the industry pricing is up, the biggest price increase since 1991,'' said Ben Steinman of Beer Marketer's Insights.

In January, industry giant Anheuser-Busch was the first to jack up prices, and competitors Miller Brewing Co. and Coors Brewing Co. followed the trend.

*** The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is standing behind its 1981 decision to approve the artificial sweetener aspartame, sold under the brand name NutraSweet.

"Based on all the information available today, we believe this product is safe,'' said Dr. Michael Friedman, Deputy Commissioner of Food and Drugs.

Concerns over a possible link between aspartame and brain tumours were reignited in a recent Washington University study that found that the number of brain cancer cases in the US surged 10 percent shortly after aspartame was introduced.

The study, which appeared in this month's Journal of Neuropathology and Experimental Neurology, never proved that aspartame actually caused the increase, but suggested that it ''appears to be a promising candidate''. The study was reported by Reuters on November 5.

On Monday, the author of the study, Dr. John Olney, joined representatives from the Community Nutrition Institute and other consumer groups in calling on the FDA to require further testing of aspartame's safety.

However, analysis of National Cancer Institute (NCI) data on cancer incidence in the US "does not support an association between the use of aspartame and increased incidence of brain tumors,'' according to an FDA statement. The data show that the number of brain and central nervous system cancers began increasing in 1973 and continued to increase through 1985. Since then, the increase has leveled off, and is beginning to show a decline, the statement said.