TOPLINE:

According to a multicentre cohort study, the consumption of processed meat was associated with an increased risk for gastric cancer and oesophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC). An increase in the intake of white meat showed an unexpected positive association with the risk for non-cardia gastric cancer among women, warranting further validation.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers conducted a cohort study including data of 450,112 participants (70.8% women) across 10 European countries, with follow-up data on cancer endpoints and vital status available until 2015.
• Dietary intake of red meat (eg, pork, beef, veal, and lamb), processed meat (eg, ham, bacon, sausages, hamburgers, meatballs, and pâtés), and white meat (eg, chicken, turkey, duck, goose, and rabbit) was estimated from food frequency questionnaires at baseline. The consumption of red meat was highest among participants, with men consuming 54.3 g/d vs women consuming 37.8 g/d; the intake of processed meat was 45.3 g/d in men vs 28.4 g/d in women.
• Over a mean follow-up duration of 14.1 years, researchers identified 876 cases of gastric cancer (233 cardia, 329 non-cardia, 624 intestinal type, and 208 diffuse type) and 215 cases of EAC.
• The association between meat intake and the risk for gastric cancer and EAC was evaluated.

TAKEAWAY:

• A 30-g/d increase in the consumption of processed meat was associated with an increase in the risk for gastric cancer (hazard ratio [HR], 1.09; 95% CI, 1.02-1.17) and EAC (HR, 1.13; 95% CI, 1.00-1.27); this association remained significant after adjusting for the intake of other types of meat (P < .001).
• A 30-g/d increase in the intake of processed meat was positively associated with the risk for intestinal-type gastric cancer (HR, 1.11; 95% CI, 1.02-1.20) and diffuse-type gastric cancer (HR, 1.07; 95% CI, 0.94-1.22).
• An increase of 20 g/d in the consumption of white meat showed a positive association with the risk for non-cardia gastric cancer (HR, 1.12; 95% CI, 1.02-1.24), with significant heterogeneity between the risks for non-cardia and cardia gastric cancers (P = .003).
• Among women, a 20-g/d increase in the intake of white meat was associated with an increased risk for non-cardia gastric cancer (HR, 1.20; 95% CI, 1.05-1.38), whereas among men, a 30-g/d increase in the consumption of processed meat was associated with an increased risk for gastric cancer (HR, 1.10; 95% CI, 1.01-1.19).

IN PRACTICE:

"Future studies should elucidate the underlying mechanisms and inform dietary guidelines to reduce cancer risk," the authors wrote.

SOURCE:

The study was led by Catalina Bonet, Unit of Nutrition and Cancer, Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO), L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain. It was published online on May 20, 2026, in International Journal of Cancer.

LIMITATIONS:

Dietary intake was assessed only at baseline using food frequency questionnaires, which may have reduced the ability to detect associations over the extended follow-up period. The study excluded participants with extreme ratios of energy intake to estimated energy requirements. Additional limitations included the lack of data on Helicobacter pylori infection status and the assumption that participants maintained consistent dietary patterns from baseline throughout the study period.

DISCLOSURES:

The EPIC study was funded by the International Agency for Research on Cancer and the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Imperial College London. The authors reported having no relevant conflicts of interest.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.