U.S. studies link charbroiled meat, breast cancer

[Guest guest]

April 4, 2000

Web posted at: 3:27 PM EDT (1927 GMT)

 

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -- Barbecue season is near, but you might think twice

about firing up the grill after the release Monday of new studies that say

eating flame-broiled steak may raise the risk of developing breast cancer.

 

" We found no association with total meat consumption or red meat consumption,

but we found a twofold risk of breast cancer in women who consumed the

most-well-done meat compared with those who ate less-cooked meat, " Dr. Rashmi

Sinha, a researcher with the Iowa Women's Health Study, told reporters at a

meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research.

 

Cooking meat at high temperatures, by frying, broiling and barbecuing, produces

heterocyclic amines, a product of the reaction between creatine, a chemical in

muscles, with amino acids, a core component of protein. It also produces

polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, the compounds found on charred food. Both of

these substances have been proven to promote cancer in animals, and scientists

say they are likely to be carcinogens for humans, too.

 

The longer the meat is cooked and the higher the temperature, the more of these

compounds are produced. The Iowa Women's study estimated the amount of three

types of heterocyclic amines in diets based on answers to questions about the

amount of meat consumed, how the meat was cooked and how well it was cooked.

Only PhIP, the principle heterocyclic tied to breast cancer in animals, showed a

correlation to breast cancer risk in the study population.

 

Hint about dietary links

 

" We don't understand breast cancer very well at all. This research may give us a

hint of how dietary patterns are involved, " said Dr. John Potter, head of the

cancer prevention research program at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in

Seattle.

 

Although the findings are preliminary, Sinha suggested that people may want to

reduce the amount of PhIP in their meat by cooking it at lower temperatures

through stewing, braising or baking, or precooking it in the oven or a microwave

before putting it on the grill.

 

In a separate study, researchers at Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public

Health in Baltimore found that women with the highest levels of a certain kind

of enzyme associated with activating heterocyclic amines were most susceptible

to breast cancer.

 

" We found that women who ate flame-broiled meat more than twice a month had an

increased risk of developing breast cancer, " said Dr. Kala Visvanathan, a

research fellow at Johns Hopkins.

 

" This suggests that it is not just exposure to risk factors but a combination of

genetic profiles and exposure that dictates cancer risk, " the researcher added.

 

German findings

 

A team of German researchers found that PhIP was attracted to estrogen receptors

but concluded that it did not interact with the female sex hormone.

 

They did find, however, that PhIP caused several kinds of DNA damage: mutations,

strand breaks and cell transformations.

 

" PhIP damages DNA in the cell like other carcinogenic compounds, " said Dr.

Wolfgang Pfau, of the Fraunhofer Society's Institute of Toxicology and

Environmental Medicine in Hamburg, Germany.

 

He suggested that the PhIP might bind to estrogen receptors and act as a

carcinogen once those receptors reached the breast, but said further studies

needed to be carried out.

 

Cancer prevention centers recommended in 1997 that people limit red meat

consumption to less than 3 ounces a day and stay away from burned or charred

food, largely because of concerns about colorectal cancer.

 

Potter said Monday: " People should restrict meat consumption to a modest amount

and reduce charring. It may also be more useful to cut the fat off the meat

rather than cook it off over a grill. "

 

The U.S. studies on breast cancer risk appeared to contradict one carried out at

the University of California Irvine College of Medicine and released last

Tuesday.

 

Researchers reporting in the April issue of Carcinogenesis said women who ate

well-done red meat such as pork or beef showed no increased risk of getting

breast cancer.

 

http://www.cnn.com/2000/HEALTH/cancer/04/04/cancer.grilling.reut/index.html

--

_____________

Free email services provided by http://www.goodkarmamail.com

 

 

powered by OutBlaze