Abstract
Aim: Red and processed meat may be risk factors for breast cancer due to their iron content, administration of oestrogens to cattle, or mutagens created during cooking. We studied the associations in UK Biobank, then included the results in a meta-analysis of published cohort studies.
Methods: UK Biobank, a general population cohort study, recruited participants aged 40-69 years. Incident breast cancer was ascertained via linkage to routine hospital admission, cancer registry and death certificate data. Univariate and multivariable Cox proportional hazard models were used to explore the associations between red and processed meat consumption and breast cancer. Previously published cohort studies were identified from a systematic review using PubMed and Ovid, and a meta-analysis conducted using a random effects model.
Results: Over a median of seven years follow-up, 4,819 of the 262,195 women developed breast cancer. The risk was increased in the highest tertile (>9g/day) of processed meat consumption (adjusted HR 1.21, 95% CI 1.08-1.35, p=0.001) Collation with ten previous cohort studies provided data on 40,257 incident breast cancers in 1.65 million women. On meta-analysis, processed meat consumption was associated with overall (RR 1.06, 95% CI 1.01-1.11) and post-menopausal (RR 1.09, 95% CI 1.03-1.15), but not pre-menopausal (RR 0.99, 95% CI 0.88-1.10), breast cancer. In UK Biobank and the meta-analysis, red meat consumption was not associated with breast cancer (adjusted HR 0.99 95% CI 0.88-1.12 and RR 1.03, 95% CI 0.99-1.08, respectively).
1 Application
Application ID | Title |
7155 | Epidemiology of mental health, cognitive function, pain and cardiometabolic disease. |
1 Return
Return ID | App ID | Description | Archive Date |
1781 | 7155 | Red and processed meat consumption and breast cancer: UK Biobank cohort study and meta-analysis | 30 Sep 2019 |