Meat intake after diagnosis not tied to colon cancer outcomes

Intake of unprocessed red meat or processed meat after diagnosis is not associated with the risk for cancer recurrence or death in patients with stage III colon cancer, according to a study published online Feb. 22 in JAMA Network Open.

Erin L. Van Blarigan, Sc.D., from the University of California in San Francisco, and colleagues examined whether intake of unprocessed red meat or processed meat is associated with the risk for cancer recurrence or mortality in patients with colon cancer. The analysis included 1,011 patients with stage III colon cancer enrolled in the Cancer and Leukemia Group B trial (1999 to 2001, with follow-up through 2009).

The researchers found that during a median follow-up of 6.6 years, there were 305 deaths and 81 recurrences without death. There was no association noted between intake of unprocessed red meat or processed meat after colon cancer diagnosis and the risk of recurrence or mortality (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 CI, 0.75 to 1.47] for processed meat). Findings were similar for all-cause mortality (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).

"These findings suggest that unprocessed red meat and processed meat intakes after colon cancer diagnosis are not associated with time to recurrence or death," the authors write.

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