Meaty Diets Increase Kidney Cancer Risk
by Bryant Furlow
EPI NEWS
April 16, 2007—Eating too much meat can increase
the risk of kidney cancer, report scientists at Tulane
University and the University of North Texas.
The team conducted a meta-analysis to pool risk
estimates from 13 published studies of meat
consumption and kidney cancer. When they
compared diets with the most meat and those with the
least, the authors found that all meats—red meat,
processed meats, and poultry alike—significantly
increase kidney cancer risk.
The authors suggest possible causes for that risk,
including viruses in meat and chemicals known as
heterocylcic aromatic amines that are produced by
cooking meat.
“Previous epidemiological studies show that smoking,
obesity, kidney disease, hypertension, occupational
chemical exposures, and diets poor in vegetables are
risk factors for the development of renal cancers,”
notes the study’s lead author, Mohammed Faramawi
of Tulane University.
Kidney cancer kills 78,000 patients around the world
each year, and rates seem to be climbing
internationally.
“We think that excess meat consumption could be
associated with the international differences and
temporal increase in renal cancer,” Faramawi says.
But the team does not advise abandoning meat
altogether just to reduce cancer risk.
“Meat provides the body with calories and important
proteins and minerals like iron and zinc,” Faramawi
explains. “We do not recommend readers stop
consuming meat. We ask them to decrease meat
consumption so that the important minerals and
proteins are provided, while the risk of renal cancer is
not increased.”
Future studies should examine just how much meat
can be consumed without increasing the risk of
kidney cancers, he says.
EPI NEWS
April 16, 2007—Eating too much meat can increase
the risk of kidney cancer, report scientists at Tulane
University and the University of North Texas.
The team conducted a meta-analysis to pool risk
estimates from 13 published studies of meat
consumption and kidney cancer. When they
compared diets with the most meat and those with the
least, the authors found that all meats—red meat,
processed meats, and poultry alike—significantly
increase kidney cancer risk.
The authors suggest possible causes for that risk,
including viruses in meat and chemicals known as
heterocylcic aromatic amines that are produced by
cooking meat.
“Previous epidemiological studies show that smoking,
obesity, kidney disease, hypertension, occupational
chemical exposures, and diets poor in vegetables are
risk factors for the development of renal cancers,”
notes the study’s lead author, Mohammed Faramawi
of Tulane University.
Kidney cancer kills 78,000 patients around the world
each year, and rates seem to be climbing
internationally.
“We think that excess meat consumption could be
associated with the international differences and
temporal increase in renal cancer,” Faramawi says.
But the team does not advise abandoning meat
altogether just to reduce cancer risk.
“Meat provides the body with calories and important
proteins and minerals like iron and zinc,” Faramawi
explains. “We do not recommend readers stop
consuming meat. We ask them to decrease meat
consumption so that the important minerals and
proteins are provided, while the risk of renal cancer is
not increased.”
Future studies should examine just how much meat
can be consumed without increasing the risk of
kidney cancers, he says.
| Statistical Details Men in the US has one of the highest rates of kidney cancer in the world: 34.1 cases are diagnosed for every 100,000 American men every year. Pooled odds ratios (OR) for renal cancer risk and meat consumption, comparing highest dietary consumption levels with lowest and no-meat dietary consumption: All meat: Pooled fixed OR: 1.27 (95% CI: 1.12-1.43) Red meat: Pooled fixed OR: 1.27 (95% CI: 1.10-1.48) Poultry: Pooled fixed OR: 1.22 (95% CI: 1.01-1.50) Processed: Pooled fixed OR: 1.20 (95% CI: 1.02-1.40) |
Further reading
Mohammed Faramawi, et al. (2007) Consumption of
different types of meat and the risk of renal cancer:
meta-analysis of case-control studies. Cancer Causes
Control 18(2):125-133.
Mohammed Faramawi, et al. (2007) Consumption of
different types of meat and the risk of renal cancer:
meta-analysis of case-control studies. Cancer Causes
Control 18(2):125-133.
Meta-Analysis