Meat Intake and Risk of Gastric and Esophageal Adenocarcinoma in the European Prospective Investigation Into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) Study

Abstract

Whether meat consumption increases the risk of gastric cancer (GC) and esophageal cancer or not remains unclear. Moreover, the number of prospective studies evaluating the associations by anatomical and histological types of GC is limited. We aimed to assess the associations of red, processed, and white meat with all gastric adenocarcinomas by anatomical site and histological type, and with esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC), using data from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study of 450,112 individuals (131,426 men/318,686 women). Over 14.1 years of follow-up, 876 GC and 215 EAC cases were identified. Among the GC cases, 233 were located in cardia and 329 in non-cardia regions. Histologically, 624 were classified as intestinal type and 208 as diffuse type. The associations between meat intake and risk of GC or EAC were assessed using multivariable Cox models. A 30 g/day increase in processed meat consumption was associated with a 9% (95% CI: 2-17) increase in GC risk and a 13% (95% CI: 0-27) increase in EAC risk. Additionally, a 20 g/day increase in white meat intake was associated with a 12% (95% CI: 2-24) increase in non-cardia GC risk. Processed meat was also associated with intestinal GC (11%, 95% CI: 2-20) and higher consumption with diffuse GC. Only processed meat was associated with GC among men while processed and white meat were both positively associated with GC among women. In conclusion, processed meat may increase the risk of GC and EAC, although further research is needed to clarify the effects of white meat consumption.