Processed meat may increase cancer risk

Eating too much processed meat may increases the risk of pancreatic cancer, new research published in the British Journal of Cancer has found.

The study, funded by the Swedish Cancer Foundation and Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, found that for each 50 grams of processed meat eaten every day (equivalent to a sausage or two rashers of bacon) there was a 19% rise in the risk of pancreatic cancer compared to those who ate no meat.

Pancreatic cancer risk increased by 38% and 57% for people who eat 100 grams per day and 150 grams per day of processed meat respectively, compared to those who eat none.

Those who ate 100 grams per day of processed meat had a 19% higher risk of pancreatic cancer compared to those who eat 50 grams a day.

The evidence for red meat was inconclusive with an increase in risk for men but not for women. The results showed that there was a 29% increase in pancreatic cancer risk for men who ate 120 grams per day of red meat compared to those who ate no meat. This may be because men in the study tended to eat more red meat than women.

Although a 19% increase in pancreatic cancer risk from eating processed meat may seem high, it is an increase on top of a comparatively small risk of developing pancreatic cancer. In the UK, the lifetime risk of developing pancreatic cancer is 1 in 77 for men and 1 in 79 for women.

Associate Professor Susanna Larsson, study author based at the Karolinska Institutet, said, “Pancreatic cancer has poor survival rates. So as well as diagnosing it early, it’s important to understand what can increase the risk of this disease.

“If diet does affect pancreatic cancer then this could influence public health campaigns to help reduce the number of cases of this disease developing in the first place.”

The researchers analysed the results of 11 studies in total involving over 6,000 people with pancreatic cancer.