Biomedical Laboratory Science

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

How Red Meat Can Affect Cancer Risk

You may have heard the news recently that researchers have found links between eating red meat and increased risk of certain cancers. But what does this mean for you? Should you say good-bye forever to burgers, steaks and bacon?

These latest concerns are based on an October 2015 report from the World Health Organization (WHO), which had 22 experts in 10 countries review about 800 epidemiological studies to look for a connection between red meat and processed meats and cancer. It found heightened risk between these meats—especially processed meats—and some cancers, particularly colorectal cancer.

WHO didn’t say you should ban red meat or processed meats from your diet completely, but it did advise limiting the amount you eat. Here are some of the key findings from the WHO study.

Source: healthgrades

Thursday, April 21, 2016

Alcohol and processed meat linked to stomach cancer

Drinking alcohol, eating processed meat and being overweight increase the risk of developing stomach cancers, according to a major new scientific report released by the American Institute for Cancer Research and the World Cancer Research Fund.

The Continuous Update Project (CUP) report was led by the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) and the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF).

Scientists systematically gathered and analyzed data relating to stomach cancer, after which a panel of leading international experts evaluated the results independently.

Worldwide, there were 952,000 cases of stomach cancer in 2012, or 7% of all new cancer cases.

Stomach cancer is the third most common cause of cancer death. It affects men twice as much as women, and it is more common among older people, with the average age of diagnosis in the US being 72 years.

In Europe and the US, the survival rate is 25-28%, rising to 63% if it is diagnosed early. But symptoms may not appear until the later stages, and some 70% of cases worldwide are diagnosed late, leading to a lower survival rate. Eastern Asia and China are particularly affected.