Meat & stomach cancer.

Red meat may increase the risk of stomach cancer in people who have Helicobacter pylori infections, according to the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition, which tracks more than 500,000 men and women in ten European countries.

The risk of what doctors call "noncardia" stomach cancer roughly doubled for every two ounces of meat people consumed per day. But the increased risk only showed up in meat eaters who were infected with H. pylori, a bacterium that causes most stomach ulcers.

In the U.S., experts estimate that 20 percent of people under 40 and half of those over 60 have H. pylori, but most of them don't get ulcers. The study used blood tests to determine who had an H. pylori infection.

The researchers found no link between meat and "cardia" stomach cancer or esophageal cancer, which are on the rise in the U.S. and Europe and are linked to acid reflux. In contrast, noncardia stomach cancer rates are declining in the U.S.

What to do: It's too early to say whether meat raises the risk of stomach cancer, but it's worth cutting back anyway to reduce the risk of colon cancer and heart disease.

J. Nat Cancer Inst. 98: 345, 2006.