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.''-