By david Liu, PHD

Saturday Sept 8, 2012 (foodconsumer.org) -- It's commonly known that cigarette smoking causes lung cancer.  But a review article recently published in Annals of Oncology suggests that eating certain meats particularly red meat may increase the risk for the disease.

The study was a meta-analysis of 23 case-control studies and 11 cohort studies.  All studies were adjusted for smoking or conducted in never smokers, that is, smoking as a risk factor had been excluded from the association.

W. S. Yang of Shanghai Cancer Institute, Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai and colleagues found highest intakes of total meat were associated with 35 percent increased risk for lung cancer, compared to lowest intakes.  For red meat, the increase was 34 percent and for processed meat, the risk increase was 6 percent.

On the other hand, eating poultry was inversely associated with risk of lung cancer.  Those who ate the highest amount were 9 percent less likely to be diagnosed with lung cancer, compared to those who ate the lowest amount.  But those who ate highest amounts of total white meat were 6 percent more likely to develop lung cancer.

The researchers concluded "The relationship between meat intake and lung cancer risk appears to depend on the types of meat consumed. A high intake of red meat may increase the risk of lung cancer by about 35%, while a high intake of poultry decreases the risk by about 10%."

They suggested that more studies are needed to examine how meat mutagens or heme iron, meat cooking preferences, and doneness level were associated with lung cancer.

The association may not be exactly applicable to all populations.   Meat consumption may have a high impact on lung cancer in one population, but less in another because other risk factors, which vary from one culture to another, may complicate the association between meat consumption and risk of lung cancer.

Lung cancer is deadly, often does not give early warning signs or symptoms and therefore, lung cancer prognosis is very poor.  It is diagnosed in more than 220,000 Americans each year and kills about 160,000 annually.  To minimize the risk from the disease, prevention measures are important.