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Meta-Analysis
. 2013 Aug 14;8(8):e70955.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0070955. eCollection 2013.

Red and processed meat intake is associated with higher gastric cancer risk: a meta-analysis of epidemiological observational studies

Hongcheng Zhu  1 , Xi Yang, Chi Zhang, Chen Zhu, Guangzhou Tao, Lianjun Zhao, Shaowen Tang, Zheng Shu, Jing Cai, Shengbin Dai, Qin Qin, Liping Xu, Hongyan Cheng, Xinchen Sun
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Red and processed meat intake is associated with higher gastric cancer risk: a meta-analysis of epidemiological observational studies

Hongcheng Zhu et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: Red and processed meat was concluded as a limited-suggestive risk factor of gastric cancer by the World Cancer Research Fund. However, recent epidemiological studies have yielded inconclusive results.

Methods: We searched Medline, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library from their inception to April 2013 for both cohort and case-control studies which assessed the association between red and/or processed meat intake and gastric cancer risk. Study-specific relative risk estimates were polled by random-effect or fixed-effect models.

Results: Twelve cohort and thirty case-control studies were included in the meta-analysis. Significant associations were found between both red (RR: 1.45, 95% CI: 1.22-1.73) and processed (RR: 1.45, 95% CI: 1.26-1.65) meat intake and gastric cancer risk generally. Positive findings were also existed in the items of beef (RR: 1.28, 95% CI: 1.04-1.57), bacon (RR: 1.37, 95% CI: 1.17-1.61), ham (RR: 1.44, 95% CI: 1.00-2.06), and sausage (RR: 1.33, 95% CI: 1.16-1.52). When conducted by study design, the association was significant in case-control studies (RR: 1.63, 95% CI: 1.33-1.99) but not in cohort studies (RR: 1.02, 95% CI: 0.90-1.17) for red meat. Increased relative risks were seen in high-quality, adenocarcinoma, cardia and European-population studies for red meat. And most subgroup analysis confirmed the significant association between processed meat intake and gastric cancer risk.

Conclusions: Our findings indicate that consumption of red and/or processed meat contributes to increased gastric cancer risk. However, further investigation is needed to confirm the association, especially for red meat.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Reference searched and selection of studies in the meta-analysis.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Estimates (95% CIs) of red meat intake (highest versus lowest category) and gastric cancer risk.
Squares indicate study-specific relative risks (size of the square reflects the study-specific statistical weight, i.e., the inverse of the variance); horizontal lines indicate 95% confidence intervals; diamond indicates summary relative risk estimate with its corresponding 95% confidence interval.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Beeg's test of studies for red meat intake and gastric cancer risk.
Figure 4
Figure 4. Estimates (95% CIs) of beef intake (highest versus lowest category) and gastric cancer risk.
Squares indicate study-specific relative risks (size of the square reflects the study-specific statistical weight, i.e., the inverse of the variance); horizontal lines indicate 95% confidence intervals; diamond indicates summary relative risk estimate with its corresponding 95% confidence interval.
Figure 5
Figure 5. Beeg's test of studies for processed meat intake and gastric cancer risk.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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