By EMMA ROSS, AP Medical Writer LYON, France (AP) - Eating lots of preserved
meats such as salami, bacon, cured ham and hot dogs could increase the risk
of bowel cancer by 50 percent, early results of a major new study have
suggested.However, when it came to fresh red meat - beef, lamb, pork and veal
- there seemed to be no link.Previous studies have linked high meat intake to
colorectal cancer, but almost all the studies grouped fresh and processed
meats together.The latest findings come from an ongoing study experts say is
the most reliable research into the influence of diet on cancer to date - an
investigation involving almost half a million people, from southern Greece to
northern Norway. However, that does not mean red meat has been cleared of
suspicion, said Dr. Arthur Schatzkin, chief of nutritional epidemiology at
the U.S. National Cancer Institute (<A HREF="http://rd.yahoo.com/DailyNews/manual/*http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news?p=%22National%0ACancer%20Institute%22&c=&n=20&yn=c&c=news&cs=nw">news</A> - <A HREF="http://rd.yahoo.com/DailyNews/manual/*http://search.yahoo.com/bin/search?p=National%20Cancer%20Institute&cs=nw">web sites</A>).``These results are
very preliminary,'' said Schatzkin, who was not involved in the study.
``There's more narrowing down that has to be done before we can draw any
conclusions.''The study, presented Friday in Lyon at the European Conference
on Nutrition and Cancer, is being coordinated by the World Health
Organization (<A HREF="http://rd.yahoo.com/DailyNews/manual/*http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news?p=%22World%20Health%0AOrganization%22&c=&n=20&yn=c&c=news&cs=nw">news</A> - <A HREF="http://rd.yahoo.com/DailyNews/manual/*http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=%22World+Health+Organization%22&h=c">web sites</A>)'s International Agency for Research on
Cancer.Experts say the findings show the issue is more complex than
previously thought, and that it's not as simple as meat being either
cancer-promoting or not. Scientists are learning that factors such as cooking
methods and duration, and cuts of meat must also be considered.Some research
has suggested that frying or barbecuing may add cancer-promoting chemicals to
meat and that a crispy lamb chop or a well-done steak may contain undesirable
compounds.``This points us in the direction we need to go. The only firm
conclusion is that lumping fresh and processed meat together is
inappropriate,'' said Martin Wiseman, a professor at the Institute of Human
Nutrition in Southampton, England, who was not involved with the
research.``But now, what about hamburgers? Are they processed or fresh meat?
And meatballs? Where do they fit in? We are just starting to disentangle all
this,'' Wiseman said.The study's coordinator, Dr. Elio Riboli, chief of the
nutrition division at the International Agency for Research on Cancer, told
scientists no link was seen when all red meat was examined as one group.But
when the processed meat, which is usually red meat, was investigated alone,
those who ate an average of 2 ounces per day - the equivalent of a thick
slice or two of smoked ham, four slivers of Parma ham or one giant hot dog -
had a 50 percent greater chance of developing cancer of the colon or rectum
than those who ate no preserved meat.``However, we could not, so far, take
into account cooking methods in our analysis,'' Riboli said. ``So we could
not, for the time being, separate red meat consumption depending on whether
it was consumed well done or rare. Therefore, these are just intermediate
results.''-
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