This summary table contains detailed information about research studies. While viewing summary tables offers an informative glimpse at the science behind many breast cancer guidelines and recommendations, they should be viewed with some caution. There are a number of concepts you must understand to be able to successfully read and interpret research tables. To get some background information about understanding research tables, please see How to Read a Research Table.
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Introduction: Because women in countries that eat more meat tend to have higher rates of breast cancer, eating a lot of meat has been suggested as a potential risk factor for breast cancer. Researchers have studied people with diets high in meat as well as certain types of meat (such as red meat and poultry). Although a few studies suggest that eating a lot of meat may increase risk of breast cancer, most studies have not found a link between the two. More research in this area is needed to draw conclusions.
Find more information on the strengths and weaknesses of different types of studies.
See how this risk factor compares with other risk factors for breast cancer.
Study selection criteria: Available prospective cohort studies and nested case-control studies with at least 300 cases, meta-analyses and pooled analyses.
Table note: Relative risk above 1 indicates increased risk. Relative risk below 1 indicates decreased risk.
Study
|
Study Population
(number of participants)
|
Follow-up
(years)
|
Type of Meat
|
Relative Risk of Breast Cancer
RR (95% CI)
|
Prospective cohort studies
|
Nurses' Health Study [1]
|
88,647
(4,107 cases)
|
18
|
Total meat:
2 or more vs.
<=1 servings/day
|
0.89 (0.79-1.00)*
|
| |
|
|
Red meat:
1.3 or more vs.
<=0.1 servings/day
|
0.94 (0.84-1.05)*
|
| |
|
|
Poultry:
0.5 or more vs.
<=0.2 servings/day
|
1.01 (0.91-1.11)*
|
NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study [2]
|
120,755
(3,818 cases)
|
8 |
Total meat:
3 or more vs.
<=1 servings/day†
|
1.03 (0.93-1.15) |
| |
|
|
Red meat: 1.5 or more vs.
<0.5 servings/day†
|
1.05 (0.93-1.18) |
| |
|
|
White meat:
2 or more vs.
<0.5 servings/day†
|
0.93 (0.84-1.04) |
| |
|
|
Processed meat:
3 or more vs.
<0.5 servings/week†
|
1.00 (0.90-1.12) |
| |
|
|
Meat cooked at high temperatures:
4 or more vs.
<1 servings/week†
|
0.98 (0.86-1.11) |
Nurses' Health Study II [3-5]
|
90,655
premenopausal women
(714 cases)
|
8
|
Chicken or turkey:
Average 0.9 vs.
0.1 servings/day
|
1.04 (0.80-1.35)
|
| |
90,659
premenopausal women
(1,021 cases)
|
12
|
Red meat:
At least 1.5 servings/day vs.
<=3 servings/day
|
1.27 (0.96-1.67)‡
|
| |
39,268 premenopausal women
(455 cases) |
7 |
Red meat during adolescence:
Average 0.7 vs.
2.5 servings/day
|
1.34 (0.94-1.89) |
UK Women's Cohort Study [6]
|
35,372
(1,750 cases)
|
8
|
Total meat:
4 or more vs.
0 servings/day
|
1.34 (1.05-1.71)*
|
| |
|
|
Red meat:
2.3 or more vs.
0 servings/day
|
1.41 (1.11-1.81)§
|
| |
|
|
Poultry:
0.9 or more vs.
0 servings/day
|
1.22 (0.95-1.56)*
|
| |
|
|
Processed meat:
0.8 or more vs.
0 servings/day
|
1.39 (1.09-1.78)**
|
Nested case-control studies
|
| |
Cases
|
Controls
|
|
|
|
Shanghai Breast Self-Exam Study [7]
|
378
|
1,070
|
|
Total meat:
6 or more vs.
<3 servings/week
|
1.12 (0.70-1.80)
|
| |
|
|
|
Red meat:
6 or more vs.
<3 servings/week
|
1.24 (0.77-1.99)
|
| |
|
|
|
Poultry:
At least 1.2 servings/week vs.
<=2 servings/month
|
0.94 (0.59-1.49)
|
| |
|
|
|
Cured meat:
2 or more vs.
<=0.5 servings/month
|
1.20 (0.82-1.74)
|
Diet, Cancer and Health Study (Denmark) [8]
|
378 |
378 |
4.2 |
Total meat:
6 or more vs.
<4 servings/day†
|
2.24 (1.43-3.49) |
| |
|
|
|
Red meat:
3 or more vs.
<2 servings/day†
|
1.65 (1.09-2.50) |
| |
|
|
|
Poultry:
1 or more vs.
<1 servings/day†
|
1.33 (0.85-2.07) |
| |
|
|
|
Processed meat:
1.5 or more vs.
<0.5 servings/day†
|
1.59 (1.02-2.47) |
Pooled analyses
|
Missmer et al. [9]
|
351,041
|
up to 15
|
Total meat
|
1.08 (0.98-1.19)
|
| |
|
|
Red meat
|
0.94 (0.87-1.02)
|
| |
|
|
White meat
|
1.02 (0.91-1.13)
|
Boyd et al. [10]
|
45 studies
|
|
Total meat
|
1.13 (1.01-1.25)
|
* Results were similar when data for premenopausal and postmenopausal women were examined separately.
† Servings per day/week estimated from grams per day.
‡ Results showed a significant increase in ER+/PR+ breast cancers among women with the highest level of red meat intake. A similar increase was not found for ER-/PR- breast cancers.
§ Among premenopausal women, the relative risk of breast cancer was 1.13 (0.99-1.29) and among postmenopausal women, relative risk was 1.12 (1.01-1.26).
** Among premenopausal women, the relative risk of breast cancer was 1.45 (0.95-2.23) and among postmenopausal women, relative risk was 1.64 (1.19-2.27).
References
1. Holmes MD, Colditz GA, Hunter DJ, et al. Meat, fish and egg intake and risk of breast cancer. Int J Cancer. 104(2):221-7, 2003.
2. Kabat GC, Cross AJ, Park Y, et al. Meat intake and meat preparation in relation to risk of postmenopausal breast cancer in the NIH-AARP diet and health study. Int J Cancer. 124(10):2430-5, 2009.
3. Cho E, Spiegelman D, Hunter DJ, et al. Premenopausal fat intake and risk of breast cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst. 95(14):1079-85, 2003.
4. Cho E, Chen WY, Hunter DJ, et al. Red meat intake and risk of breast cancer among premenopausal women. Arch Intern Med. 166(20):2253-9, 2006.
5. Linos E, Willett WC, Cho E, Colditz G, Frazier LA. Red meat consumption during adolescence among premenopausal women and risk of breast cancer. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 17(8):2146-51, 2008.
6. Taylor EF, Burley VJ, Greenwood DC, Cade JE. Meat consumption and risk of breast cancer in the UK Women's Cohort Study. Br J Cancer. 96(7):1139-46, 2007.
7. Shannon J, Ray R, Wu C, et al. Food and botanical groupings and risk of breast cancer: a case-control study in Shanghai, China. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 14(1):81-90, 2005.
8. Egeberg R, Olsen A, Autrup H, et al. Meat consumption, N-acetyl transferase 1 and 2 polymorphism and risk of breast cancer in Danish postmenopausal women. Eur J Cancer Prev. 17(1):39-47, 2008.
9. Missmer SA, Smith-Warner S-A, Spiegelman D, et al. Meat and dairy food consumption and breast cancer: a pooled analysis of cohort studies. Int J Epidemiol. 31(1):78-85, 2002.
10. Boyd NF, Stone J, Vogt KN, Connelly BS, Martin LJ, Minkin S. Dietary fat and breast cancer risk revisited: a meta-analysis of the published literature. Br J Cancer. 89(9):1672-85, 2003.
Updated 09/12/09
