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Pickled meat consumption and colorectal cancer (CRC): a case–control study in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

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Abstract

Objective

Although a large body of epidemiological research suggests that red meat intake increases the risk of colorectal cancer, little is known regarding how such an association varies across populations and types of red meat. The objective of this study was to assess whether an association exists between the intakes of total red meat and pickled red meat and the risk of colorectal cancer in study subjects residing in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Methods

This case–control study of 1,204 residents of Newfoundland and Labrador was part of a larger study on colorectal cancer. Personal history food frequency questionnaires were used to collect retrospective data from 518 individuals diagnosed with colorectal cancer and 686 controls. Intakes were ranked and divided into tertiles. Logistic regression was used to examine the possible association between meat intakes and colorectal cancer diagnosis while controlling for possible confounding factors.

Results

A positive, but non-statistically significant, association between total red meat intake and CRC was observed in this study. Pickled red meat consumption was found to be significantly associated with an increased risk of CRC (men, OR = 2.07, 95% CI 1.37–3.15; women, OR = 2.51, 95% CI 1.45–4.32), the odds ratios increasing with each tertile of consumption, suggesting a dose–response effect.

Conclusion

Intake of pickled red meat appears to increase the risk of colorectal cancer in Newfoundland and Labrador.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Team Grant [CIHR-CPT79845] and Canadian Institutes of Health Research Team in Interdisciplinary Research on Colorectal Cancer Studentship [205835].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Community Health and Humanities, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL, 1B 3V6, Canada

    Josh Squires, Barbara Roebothan, Sharon Buehler, Zhuoyu Sun & Peizhong Peter Wang

  2. Population Studies and Surveillance, Cancer Care Ontario, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Michelle Cotterchio

  3. Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada

    John R. Mclaughlin

  4. Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL, Canada

    Ban Younghusband, Elizabeth Dicks & Patrick S. Parfrey

  5. School of Public Health, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China

    Peizhong Peter Wang

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  1. Josh Squires
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  2. Barbara Roebothan
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  3. Sharon Buehler
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  4. Zhuoyu Sun
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Peizhong Peter Wang.

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Squires, J., Roebothan, B., Buehler, S. et al. Pickled meat consumption and colorectal cancer (CRC): a case–control study in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Cancer Causes Control 21, 1513–1521 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-010-9580-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-010-9580-z

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