Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T23:03:00.843Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Meat and colo-rectal cancer

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2007

Michael J. Hill
Michael J. Hill*
Affiliation:
Lady Sobell Gastrointestinal Unit, Wexham Park Hospital, Slough SL2 4HL, UK
*
*Corresponding author: Dr Michael J. Hill, fax +44 (0)1256 880416
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

In early epidemiological studies of diet and cancer the stress was on the search for causal factors. Population (ecological) studies tended to show a strong correlation between meat intake, particularly red meat, and the risk of colo-rectal cancer. They also tended to show meat to be strongly inversely correlated with cancers of the stomach and oesophagus and liver. Early case- control studies tended to support the postulated role for red meat in colo-rectal carcinogenesis, although more recent case-control studies, particularly those from Europe, have tended to show no relationship. The cohort studies in general failed to detect any relationship between meat intake and colo-rectal cancer risk. The available evidence points to the intake of protective factors such as vegetables and whole-grain cereals being the main determinants of colo-rectal cancer risk, with meat intake only coincidentally related.

Keywords

Colo-rectal cancerMeat intakeEpidemiological studies
Type
Meat or wheat for the next millennium? A Debate Pro meat
Information
Proceedings of the Nutrition Society , Volume 58 , Issue 2 , May 1999 , pp. 261 - 264
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 1999

References

Benito, E, Obrador, A, Stiggelbout, A, Bosch, FX, Millet, M & Munoz, N (1990) A population based case control study of colorectal cancer in Majorca. 1. Dietary factors. International Journal of Cancer 45, 69–76.Google Scholar
Block, G, Patterson, B & Subar, A (1992) Fruit, vegetables and cancer prevention: a review of the epidemiological evidence. Nutrition and Cancer 18, 1–29.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bostick, RM, Potter, JD, Kushi, LH, Sellars, TA, Steinmetz, KA, McKenzie, DA, Gapstur, SM & Folsom, AR (1994) Sugar, meat and fat intake and non-dietary risk factors for colon cancer incidence in Iowa women (US). Cancer Causes and Control 5, 38–52.Google Scholar
Department of Health (1998) Nutritional Aspects of the Development of Cancer. Report on Health and Social Subjects no. 48. London: The Stationery Office.Google Scholar
European Cancer Prevention Consensus Group (1997) Consensus meeting on cereals, fibre and colorectal and breast cancer. European Journal of Cancer Prevention 6, 512–514.Google Scholar
Faivre, J, Couillault, C, Kronborg, O, Rath, U, Giacosa, A, De Oliviera, H, Obrador, T, O'Morain, C & the IECP Colon Group (1997) Chemoprevention of metachronous adenomas of the large bowel: design and interim results of a randomised trial of calcium and fibre. European Journal of Cancer Prevention 6, 132–138.Google Scholar
Franceschi, S, Favero, A, La Vecchia, C, Negri, E, Conti, E, Montella, M, Giacosa, A, Nanni, O. & De Carli, A (1997) Food groups and risk of colorectal cancer in Italy. International Journal of Cancer 72, 56–61.3.0.CO;2-3>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gaard, M, Tretli, S & Luken, EB (1996) Dietary factors and risk of colon cancer: a prospective study of 50535 young Norwegian men and women. European Journal of Cancer Prevention 5, 445–454.Google Scholar
Giovannucci, E, Stampfer, MJ, Colditz, G, Rimm, EB & Willett, WC (1994) Intake of fat, meat and fiber in relation to the risk of colon cancer in men. Cancer Research 54, 2390–2397.Google Scholar
Goldbohm, RA, van den Brandt, PA, Van't Veer, P, Brants, HA, Dorant, E & Hermus, RJ (1994) A prospective cohort study on the relation between meat consumption and the risk of colon cancer. Cancer Research 54, 718–723.Google Scholar
Hill, MJ (1986) Microbes and Human Cancer. London: Edward Arnold.Google Scholar
Hill, MJ (1995) Diet and cancer: A review of the scientific evidence. European Journal of Cancer Prevention 4, Suppl. 2, 3–42.Google Scholar
Hill, MJ (1997) Meat and colorectal cancer: what does the evidence show? European Journal of Cancer Prevention 6, 415–417.Google Scholar
Knekt, P, Steineck, G, Jarvinen, R, Hakulinen, T & Aromaa, A (1994) Intake of fried meat and risk of cancer. A follow-up study in Finland. International Journal of Cancer 59, 756–760.Google Scholar
Levi, F, La Vecchia, C, Lucchini, F & Boyle, P (1993) Cancer incidence and mortality in Europe 1983–7. Society for Preventive Medicine 38, Suppl. 3, s155–s229.Google Scholar
Macquart-Moulin, G, Riboli, E, Cornee, J, Charnay, B, Berthezene, P & Day, N (1986) Case-control study on colorectal cancer and diet in Marseilles. International Journal of Cancer 38, 182–191.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1971) Household Food Consumption and Expenditure, 1970. Annual Report of the National Food Survey Committee. London: H.M. Stationery Office.Google Scholar
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1981) Household Food Consumption and Expenditure, 1980. Annual Report of the National Food Survey Committee. London: H.M. Stationery Office.Google Scholar
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1989) Household Food Consumption and Expenditure, 1988. Annual Report of the National Food Survey Committee. London: H.M. Stationery Office.Google Scholar
Peto, R, Lopez, AD, Boreham, J, Thun, M & Heath, C (1994) Mortality from Smoking in Developed Countries 1950–2000. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Phillips, RL & Snowdon, DA (1985) Dietary relationships with fatal colorectal cancer among Seventh Day Adventists. Journal of the National Cancer Institute 74, 307–317.Google Scholar
Thun, MJ, Calle, EE, Namboodiri, MM, Flanders, WD, Coates, RJ, Byers, T, Boffetta, P, Garfinkel, L & Heath, CW (1992) Risk factors for fatal colon cancer in a large prospective study. Journal of the National Cancer Institute 84, 1491–1500.Google Scholar
Tuyns, AJ, Halterman, M & Kaaks, R (1987) Colorectal cancer and the intake of nutrients; oligosaccharides are a risk factor, fats are not. Nutrition and Cancer 10, 181–196.Google Scholar
Willett, WC, Stampfer, MJ, Colditz, GA, Rosner, BA & Speizer, FE (1990) Relation of meat, fat and fiber intake to the risk of colon cancer in a prospective study among women. New England Journal of Medicine 323, 1664–1672.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
World Cancer Research Fund (1997) Food, Nutrition and the Prevention of Cancer: a Global Perspective. Washington, DC: AICR.Google Scholar