000381 Well-Done Red Meat Is Not Breast Cancer Risk-Study

Washington - Eating well-done red meat does not appear to increase the risk of breast cancer and consuming more white meats may offer protection against the disease, according to a recently released study.

The study by the University of California Irvine College of Medicine contradicts previous findings that reported a link between breast cancer and the consumption of well-done meats.

“No matter how the food was prepared -- blackened, barbecued, grilled or pan-fried -- red meat didn't increase the risk and white meat actually seemed to offer protection against breast cancer,” said Dr. Ralph Delfino, assistant professor of epidemiology at the university, who co-led the research team.

However, Delfino said the study could not rule out the possibility that these foods might increase the risk of colon and stomach cancers.

The co-leader of research and epidemiology, Prof. Hoda Anton-Culver, urged caution in interpreting the results since the study involved a small number of participants and looked only at those with breast disease.

Researchers found that a gene suspected of metabolizing cancer-causing chemicals on the surface of well-done meats had no link to breast cancer.

Women who consumed well-done red meat such as pork or beef had no increased risk of getting the disease and women who ate chicken had half the risk of breast cancer compared with women who did not eat as much white meat, the researchers said.

“Although previous studies showed chemicals found on the surface of these foods have caused mammary cell cancers in rats, we didn't see it happening in humans,” said Delfino, whose findings appear in the April issue of Carcinogenesis.

Researchers compared the diets of 114 women with breast cancer with those of 280 women who had benign breast growths. They were questioned on their diet of red meat, which included hamburgers, beefsteak, pork chops, bacon and sausage. White meat included chicken, turkey or fish, excluding shellfish.

They looked for activity of a gene that produces an enzyme in the blood known as NAT2. In previous studies involving rats this enzyme activated cancer- causing chemicals produced on the surface of meats by high-temperature cooking methods such as grilling or frying.

In the new study, levels of the NAT2 enzyme were no different among women with breast cancer than among those with benign growths, regardless of the kind of red meat they ate.

Women who ate more than 67 grams of white meat daily had half the risk of breast cancer compared to women who consumed one third of that amount -- less than 26 grams a day. It was not clear from the study what caused this protective effect.

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