Consumption of meat after a diagnosis is not linked to the prognosis of…

Consumption Of Meat After A Diagnosis Is Not Linked To The Prognosis Of...

Consumption of meat after a diagnosis is not linked to the prognosis of colon cancer.

According to a study published online on Feb. 22 in JAMA Network Open, consumption of unprocessed red meat or processed meat after diagnosis is not linked to the risk of cancer recurrence or death in individuals with stage III colon cancer.

Erin L. Van Blarigan, Sc.D., of the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues investigated whether the consumption of unprocessed red meat or processed meat is linked to the risk of cancer recurrence or mortality in colon cancer patients.

In the Cancer and Leukemia Group B trial, 1,011 individuals with stage III colon cancer were included in the study (1999 to 2001, with follow-up through 2009).

There were 305 fatalities and 81 recurrences without death during a median follow-up of 6.6 years, according to the researchers.

After colon cancer diagnosis, there was no link found between eating unprocessed red meat or processed meat and the risk of recurrence or death (hazard ratios [HRs] for cancer recurrence or death when comparing the highest versus lowest quartiles of meat intake: HR, 0.84 [95 percent confidence interval (CI), 0.58 to 1.23] for unprocessed red meat; HR, 1.05 [95 percent confidence interval (CI), 0.75 to 1.47] for processed meat For all-cause mortality, the results were identical (HR, 0.71 [95 percent CI, 0.47 to 1.07] for unprocessed red meat; HR, 1.04 [95 percent CI, 0.72 to 1.51] for processed meat).

The authors write, “These findings show that intake of unprocessed red meat and processed meat after colon cancer diagnosis is not linked with time to recurrence or death.”