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Consumption of meat and fish and risk of lung cancer: results from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition

Cancer Causes & Control volume 22, pages 909–918 (2011)Cite this article

Abstract

Evidence from case–control studies, but less so from cohort studies, suggests a positive association between meat intake and risk of lung cancer. Therefore, this association was evaluated in the frame of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition, EPIC. Data from 478,021 participants, recruited from 10 European countries, who completed a dietary questionnaire in 1992–2000 were evaluated; 1,822 incident primary lung cancer cases were included in the present evaluation. Relative risk estimates were calculated for categories of meat intake using multi-variably adjusted Cox proportional hazard models. In addition, the continuous intake variables were calibrated by means of 24-h diet recall data to account for part of the measurement error. There were no consistent associations between meat consumption and the risk of lung cancer. Neither red meat (RR = 1.06, 95% CI 0.89–1.27 per 50 g intake/day; calibrated model) nor processed meat (RR = 1.13, 95% CI 0.95–1.34 per 50 g/day; calibrated model) was significantly related to an increased risk of lung cancer. Also, consumption of white meat and fish was not associated with the risk of lung cancer. These findings do not support the hypothesis that a high intake of red and processed meat is a risk factor for lung cancer.

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Acknowledgments

The work described in the paper was carried out with the financial support of the “Europe Against Cancer” Programme of the European Commission (SANCO); Ligue contre le Cancer (France); Société 3 M (France); Mutuelle Générale de l’Education Nationale; Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM); Institut Gustave Roussy; Deutsche Krebshilfe; Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum; German Federal Ministry of Education and Research; Danish Cancer Society; ISCIII of the Spanish Ministry of Health (RETICC DR06/0020); Health Research Fund (FIS) of the Spanish Ministry of Health; the Spanish Regional Governments of Andalucia, Asturias, Basque Country, Murcia and Navarra; Cancer Research UK; Medical Research Council, UK; the Stroke Association, UK; British Heart Foundation; Department of Health, UK; Food Standards Agency, UK; the Wellcome Trust, UK; Hellenic Ministry of Health; Stavros Niarchos Foundation; Hellenic Health Foundation; Italian Association for Research on Cancer; Italian National Research Council; Dutch Ministry of Public Health, Welfare and Sports (VWS), Netherlands Cancer Registry (NKR), LK Research Funds, Dutch Prevention Funds, Dutch ZON (Zorg Onderzoek Nederland), World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF), Statistics Netherlands(The Netherlands); Nordforsk; Swedish Cancer Society; Swedish Scientific Council; Regional Government of Skane and Västerbotten, Sweden.

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Affiliations

  1. Institute of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Ingolstädter Landstr. 1, 85764, Neuherberg, Germany

    Jakob Linseisen

  2. Division of Cancer Epidemiology, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany

    Jakob Linseisen, Sabine Rohrmann, Rudolf Kaaks & Annekatrin Lukanova

  3. Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Sabine Rohrmann

  4. National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, The Netherlands

    Bas Bueno-de-Mesquita, Frederike L. Büchner & Hendriek C. Boshuizen

  5. Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University Medical Centre Utrecht (UMCU), Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Bas Bueno-de-Mesquita

  6. Unit of Nutrition, Environment and Cancer, Catalan Institute of Oncology, IDIBELL (Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute), L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain

    Antonio Agudo

  7. Institute of Community Medicine, University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway

    Inger Torhild Gram, Dagrun Engeset & Guri Skeie

  8. Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark

    Christina C. Dahm

  9. Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

    Christina C. Dahm & Kim Overvad

  10. Institute of Cancer Epidemiology, Danish Cancer Society, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Rikke Egeberg & Anne Tjønneland

  11. Department of Epidemiology, German Institute of Human Nutrition, Nuthetal, Germany

    Heiner Boeing & Annika Steffen

  12. Epidemiology Unit, Instituto Tumori, Milan, Italy

    Franco Berrino

  13. Molecular and Nutritional Epidemiology, Unit Cancer Research and Prevention Institute, ISPO, Florence, Italy

    Domenico Palli

  14. Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine Federico II University, Naples, Italy

    Salvatore Panico

  15. Cancer Registry and Histopathology Unit, “Civile M.P.Arezzo” Hospital, Ragusa, Italy

    Rosario Tumino

  16. Public Health Institute of Navarra, CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Pamplona, Spain

    Eva Ardanaz

  17. Public Health Department of Gipuzkoa, Spain Department of Public Health of Gipuzkoa, CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), San Sebastian, Spain

    Miren Dorronsoro

  18. Department of Epidemiology, Murcia Regional Health Authority, CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Murcia, Spain

    José-Maria Huerta

  19. Public Health and Participation Directorate, Health and Health Care Services Council, Asturias, Spain

    Laudina Rodríguez

  20. Andalusian School of Public Health, CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Granada, Spain

    María-José Sánchez

  21. Department of Radiation Sciences, Oncology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden

    Torgny Rasmuson

  22. Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Nutritional Research, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden

    Göran Hallmans

  23. Department of Surgery, Skåne University Hospital Malmö, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden

    Jonas Manjer

  24. Department of Clinical Sciences in Malmö/Nutrition Epidemiology, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden

    Elisabet Wirfält

  25. Hellenic Health Foundation, Athens, Greece

    Michael Katsoulis & Antonia Trichopoulou

  26. WHO Collaborating Center for Food and Nutrition Policies, Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, University of Athens Medical School, Athens, Greece

    Eleni Oikonomou & Antonia Trichopoulou

  27. Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Petra H. M. Peeters

  28. Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Kay-Tee Khaw

  29. Epidemiology Unit, Medical Research Council (MRC), Cambridge, UK

    Nicholas Wareham

  30. Cancer Epidemiology Unit, Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Naomi Allen & Tim Key

  31. International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), Lyon, France

    Paul Brennan, Isabelle Romieu & Nadia Slimani

  32. Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, UK

    Anne-Claire Vergnaud, Wei W. Xun & Elio Riboli

  33. ISI Foundation, Turin, Italy

    Paolo Vineis

  34. Environmental Epidemiology, Imperial College London, London, UK

    Paolo Vineis

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  1. Jakob Linseisen
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  2. Sabine Rohrmann
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  39. Paul Brennan
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  40. Isabelle Romieu
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  43. Wei W. Xun
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  44. Paolo Vineis
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  45. Elio Riboli
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Correspondence to Jakob Linseisen.

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Linseisen, J., Rohrmann, S., Bueno-de-Mesquita, B. et al. Consumption of meat and fish and risk of lung cancer: results from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition. Cancer Causes Control 22, 909–918 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-011-9764-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-011-9764-1

Keywords

  • Lung cancer
  • Diet
  • Epidemiology
  • Meat
  • Fish
  • EPIC