Processed Meat Consumption Allegedly Linked to Bladder Cancer Risk

A recent study has purportedly linked an increased risk of bladder cancer to “meatrelated compounds,” including nitrate and nitrite. Leah Ferrucci, et al., “Meat and components of meat and the risk of bladder cancer in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study,” Cancer, August 2010. Researchers apparently identified 854 transitional cell bladder-cancer cases among the 300,933 men and women enrolled in the 1995 National Institutes of Health-AARP Diet and Health Study.

Using validated food-frequency questionnaires completed by subjects and quantitative databases of measured values, the study authors estimated “intake of nitrate and nitrite from processed meat and HCAs [heterocyclic amines] and PAHs [polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons] from cooked meat.” Their results reportedly showed that when compared to participants who ate the least amount of processed red meat, the top one-fifth had a 30 percent greater risk of contracting bladder cancer.

As the study authors concluded, these findings provide “modest support for an increased risk of bladder cancer with total dietary nitrite and nitrate plus nitrite from processed meat. [They] also suggested a positive association between red meat and PhIP [HCA 2-amino-1 methyl-6-phenylimidazo (4,5-b)pyridine] and bladder carcinogenesis.” See Reuters, August 2, 2010.