New Study: Red meat is linked to higher risk for pancreatic cancer

This is suggested by a new analysis published in the scientific magazine Frontiers in Nutrition, which included data from 16 studies with nearly two million participants.

Researchers analyzed whether there is a link between red meat consumption and processed meat with the later showing of pancreatic cancer.

Based on the results, people who consumed more red meat had 16% higher risk of being affected by pancreatic cancer, compared with those who consumed less.

The study also found a linear link rather than more red meat consumed, the higher the risk.

For every 100 grams of extra red meat a day, the relative risk of this type of cancer increased by 10 percent.

However, scholars did not identify a certain threshold over which the danger increased suddenly.

Otherwise it resulted in processed meat, such as sausages, sausages and similar products.

In the analysis of 11 studies, no statistically significant link between processed meat consumption and pancreatic cancer was found, despite consumption levels.

This research completes previous findings. A meta-analysis published this year based on data from over 1.8 million people had shown that vegetarians have about 21 percent lower risk of being affected by pancreatic cancer compared to those who consume meat.

However, the authors of the study stress that the results should be carefully interpreted.

Most data comes from Europe and the United States, while studies involved are largely observant and are based on questionnaires on food habits.

Such studies may indicate a link, but they do not prove that red meat is the direct cause of pancreatic cancer. Moreover, analysed studies had considerable differences.