New data from the United Kingdom Women's Cohort Study (UKWCS) suggests a diet free of red meat significantly reduces the risk for distal colon cancer.
UKWCS is the largest analyses comparing commonly consumed dietary patterns and the risk for colorectal cancer (CRC) in the United Kingdom, comprising more than 32,000 women followed up for a mean of 17 years. Over the study period, 462 incident CRC cases were documented.
In multivariate analysis, there was no evidence of a reduction in risk for overall CRC (HR, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.66-1.12), colon cancer (HR, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.56-1.05) or rectal cancer (HR, 1.04; 95% CI, 0.66-1.63) when comparing red meat-free diets with diets containing red meat.
However, the exploratory analysis suggested a reduced risk for distal colon cancer in grouped red meat-free diets (HR, 0.56; 95% CI, 0.34-0.95). Although the number of cases was small, the authors say the results “indicate that a protective association of red meat free diets specifically on distal colon cancer merits confirmation in a larger study”.
Different meta-analyses have previously determined that high intake of red meat and processed meat is associated with significant increased risk for colorectal, colon and rectal cancer. In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified red meat as “probably carcinogenic to humans” and processed meat as “carcinogenic to humans,” based mainly on evidence linked to CRC.
UKWCS is one of few prospective studies to look at the relationship between meat consumption and development of CRC by subsite across the colon.
