Meat consumption not linked to risk of breast cancer

Recent findings from epidemiologic studies have shown that the consumption of meat is not associated with an increased risk of breast cancer, contrary to popular belief.

Unfortunately, the risk-lowering effect of fish intake that has been reported in other studies was also not present in the current study, investigators report.

“There has been a popular theory that eating meat can increase a woman’s risk of breast cancer,” lead author Dr. Michelle D. Holmes, from Harvard Medical School in Boston, told Reuters Health. “This theory is largely based on data from poorer countries where less meat is eaten and where it was noted that breast cancer rates are low. However, most of the studies were retrospective in nature and may have introduced confounding factors.”

Nearly 90,000 women, between 30 and 55 years of age, who were enrolled in the Nurses’ Health Study in 1976 and followed for 18 years, were involved in the study. Every 2 years the subjects responded to a general health questionnaire. In addition, a questionnaire regarding their current diet was completed five times during the study period.

During the follow-up, just over 4000 women developed invasive breast carcinoma.

“We found that the amount of meat, fish, or eggs consumed had no bearing on a woman’s risk of breast cancer,” Dr. Holmes noted. Furthermore, in contrast to findings from a previous study, “we found no association between how the meat was cooked and the risk of breast cancer,” she added.

Based on the current findings, “I feel fairly confident in saying that meat intake during mid-life and later probably doesn’t influence the risk of breast cancer,” Dr. Holmes said. “However, meat intake has been linked to other problems, such as heart disease and colon cancer, so I don’t think the message from our study should be that meat intake is not important.”

This article has been published in the January 9th online issue of the International Journal of Cancer.

(Source: Reuters Health cited on Medscape)