A landmark investigation spanning ten European nations has established a connection between processed meat consumption and heightened risks of stomach cancer and oesophageal adenocarcinoma.
The research, published in the International Journal of Cancer on 20 May, drew upon data from more than 450,000 participants, with women comprising approximately 71 per cent of the cohort.
Led by Catalina Bonet from the Catalan Institute of Oncology's Unit of Nutrition and Cancer, the study tracked participants over an average period of 14.1 years.
During this time, investigators documented 876 gastric cancer cases alongside 215 instances of oesophageal adenocarcinoma.
The meat examined bacon, sausages, hamburgers, chicken, turkey and duck
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The findings revealed that consuming an additional 30 grams of processed meat daily - equivalent to roughly a rasher of bacon - corresponded with a nine per cent elevated risk of gastric cancer.
For oesophageal adenocarcinoma, the same increase in processed meat intake showed a 13 per cent rise in risk.
These associations held firm even when researchers accounted for consumption of other meat varieties.
The data proved particularly striking for intestinal-type gastric cancer, where the 30-gram daily increment was linked to an 11 per cent greater likelihood of developing the disease.
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Male participants demonstrated a ten per cent increased gastric cancer risk with equivalent processed meat consumption.
Perhaps most unexpectedly, the investigation uncovered a notable association between white meat consumption and non-cardia gastric cancer in female participants.
Women who increased their white meat intake by 20 grams daily faced a 20 per cent heightened risk of developing this particular cancer subtype.
This finding diverged markedly from patterns observed in men, where no such correlation emerged.
The researchers noted significant heterogeneity between risks for non-cardia and cardia gastric cancers, with statistical analysis confirming the distinction.
Processed meats examined included ham, bacon, sausages, hamburgers, meatballs and pâtés, whilst white meat encompassed chicken, turkey, duck, goose and rabbit.
The EPIC study, funded by the International Agency for Research on Cancer and Imperial College London's Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, relied upon food frequency questionnaires completed at the outset of the research.
Men eating more processed meat had a 10 per cent higher risk of stomach cancer
|GETTY
This methodology presented certain constraints, as dietary habits were captured only at baseline rather than throughout the extended monitoring period.
Researchers also lacked information regarding participants' Helicobacter pylori infection status, a known factor in gastric cancer development.
"Future studies should elucidate the underlying mechanisms and inform dietary guidelines to reduce cancer risk," the authors wrote. The investigators reported no relevant conflicts of interest.
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