Study may disprove red meat cancer link

- Published: 06 June, 2007

A new study published in the Cancer Science journal has claimed to disprove that consumption of red meat increases the risk of colorectal cancer.

Researchers have run a large case-control study in Japan, examining the association of meat, fish and fat intake with the risk of colorectal cancer.

The Fukuoka Colorectal Cancer Study used newly developed personal computer software for registering semi quantative food frequencies.

It found that the intake of beef, pork, processed meat, total fat, saturated fat or n-3 poly unsaturated fat showed no clear association with risk of colorectal cancer.

Lead author, Dr Yasumi Kimura from the Graduate School of Medical Sciences at Kyushu University said: "There was an almost significant inverse association between n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) intake and incidences of colorectal cancer, particularly in the distal colon.

"This study provides further evidence that a diet with a high intake of fish and n-3 PUFA can help reduce the risk of colorectal cancer."