Feb. 22 (UPI) — People who have been diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer are not at increased risk for disease recurrence or death if they eat red or processed meat, a study published Tuesday by JAMA Network Open found.
Among more than 1,000 stage 3 colon cancer patients followed for up to eight years, 305 cases were reported in which the disease returned and resulted in death, the data showed.
In addition, 81 patients saw their cancer return, but did not die as a result, the researchers said.
However, patients’ risk for disease recurrence or death from colon cancer was not affected by their eating red or processed meats, according to the researchers.
Those who consumed up to 15 servings per week of red meat and up to 30 of processed meats had essentially the same risk for colon cancer recurrence or death, the data showed.
“Our findings do not support that either meat type is associated with risk of recurrence or mortality among patients with stage 3 colon cancer,” researchers from the University of California-San Francisco and elsewhere wrote.
High consumption of red meat, as well as other foods and alcohol, had been linked with an increased risk for colon cancer in earlier studies.
Scientists believe these foods adversely affect the health of the gut microbiome, the bacteria in the digestive tract that assist metabolism, compromising the ability to prevent tumor growth, research suggests.
Based on these findings, the American Cancer Society recommends that cancer survivors limit their intake of red meat, or beef, and processed meats, even though evidence linking consumption of these foods with a return of the disease is limited.
Processed meats include those that have been modified through salting, curing, fermenting or other methods to either improve taste or extend shelf life, according to the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Texas.
For this study, the researchers followed 1,011 patients diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer between 1999 and 2001 for a period of up to eight years.
Those who reported consuming, on average, seven servings of red meat per week had a 16% lower risk for cancer recurrence or death than patients who consumed an average of less than two servings per week, the data showed.
Colon cancer patients who said they consumed, on average, five servings of processed meats per week had a 5% higher risk for disease recurrence or death, compared with those who took in an average of less than one serving per week, the researchers said.
“Intake of either unprocessed red meat or processed meat after diagnosis was not significantly associated with risk of colon cancer recurrence or mortality,” the researchers wrote.
“These findings can potentially inform patient counseling and the development of dietary guidelines specific for cancer survivors,” they said.