New risks for meat eaters.

In the last decade, researchers have debated the role dietary fat plays in the incidence of breast cancer. Earlier case studies correlating fat consumption with breast cancer (SN: 2/18/89, p.102) failed to be confirmed by later studies, such as the Nurses' Health Study, which looked at 89,494 women over an 8-year period (SN: 10/24/92, p.276).

Now, a report published in the July EPIDEMIOLOGY suggests that, though fat intake hasn't proved a relevant factor, consumption of red meat might.

Paolo Toniolo of the New York University Medical Center and his colleagues examined the dietary habits of 14,291 women from New York City between 1985 and 1991, focusing on their consumption of meat, animal products, fat, and protein. Women who reported eating red meat every day--including beef, veal, lamb, pork, and luncheon meats--had nearly twice the risk of developing the cancer as did women who ate primarily fish, poultry, and dairy products.

"It seems that frequent meat consumers are at more of a risk for breast cancer," Toniolo says. "I don't know if it's fat or other elements of one's diet. But I know it's diet."

"We're getting more and more evidence that fat isn't related to risk," adds Geoffrey Howe of the University of Toronto. "This particular study is providing an interesting lead for other research" looking at specific foods like red meat.