Red Meat and Cancer: What's the Beef?
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The preponderance of data gathered in recent decades has supported a link between colorectal cancer (CRC) and red meat consumption, especially processed (cured) red meat (hot dogs, bologna, sausages, bacon, ham, lunch meats). A dose-response relationship was demonstrated by Chan and colleagues, who reported that the risk for CRC increased by 21% for every 50 g/day of processed red meat intake and by 29% for every 100 g/day consumed.
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@ricky Biologic plausibility for this relationship has been proposed and potential mechanisms of carcinogenesis examined. Pro-cancer factors in red meat might be excess fat, protein, or iron, or heat-induced mutagens. Red meat contains high levels of heme iron (the "red" in red meat), which has a catalytic effect on the endogenous formation of carcinogenic N-nitroso compounds and on the formation of cytotoxic and genotoxic aldehydes by lipoperoxidation. Processed meats contain nitrites and sodium. Cooking meat at high temperatures or on an open flame produces heterocyclic amines (HCAs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are potent carcinogens.