Towards refining World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research cancer prevention recommendations for red and processed meat intake: insights from Alberta’s Tomorrow Project cohort

Abstract

Current cancer prevention recommendations advise limiting red meat intake to <500g/week and avoiding consumption of processed meat, but do not differentiate the source of processed meat. We examined the associations of processed meat derived from red vs. non-red meats with cancer risk in a prospective cohort of 26,218 adults who reported dietary intake using the Canadian Diet History Questionnaire. Incidence of cancer was obtained through data linkage with Alberta Cancer Registry with median (IQR) follow-up of 13.3 (5.1) years. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression models were adjusted for covariates and stratified by age and gender. The median (IQR) consumption (g/week) of red meat, processed meat from red meat and processed meat from non-red meat were 267.9 (269.9), 53.6 (83.3), and 11.9 (31.8), respectively. High intakes (4th Quartile) of processed meat from red meat was associated with increased risk of gastro-intestinal cancer Adjusted Hazard Ratio (AHR) (95% CI): 1.68 (1.09 – 2.57) and colorectal cancers AHR (95% CI): 1.90 (1.12 – 3.22), respectively in women. No statistically significant associations were observed for intakes of red meat or processed meat from non-red meat. Results suggests that the carcinogenic effect associated with processed meat intake may be limited to processed meat derived from red meats. The findings provide preliminary evidence toward refining cancer prevention recommendations for red and processed meat intake.

Health effects associated with consumption of unprocessed red meat: a Burden of Proof study

“…We identified 20 prospective cohorts 27 , 28 , 35 , 38 , 39 , 42 , 45 , 49 , 50 , 54 , 57 , 58 , 60 , 61 , 63 , 72 , 73 , 75 and one nested case–control study 67 to assess the relationship between unprocessed red meat consumption and colorectal cancer among 2,413,032 individuals in total (sample size was calculated as the number of unique data source-location pairs with observations of risk exposure and outcome) over an average of 8.0 years per individual (range of mean/median follow-up per cohort, 4.1–32 years). Ten cohorts were carried out in Europe, eight in North America, two in Asia and one in Australia.…”