Abstract

Author(s): Gata Flamil, Virginia

Background: In 2012, colorectal cancer (CRC) was the most common in both men and women, ranking second for women and third for men. Several mechanisms have been proposed to establish association between consumption of red and processed meat with the risk of develop CRC.

Objective: Summarize and evaluate the available evidence on the association between consumption of red meat and processed meat, with the risk of developing CRC.

Methods: A systematic review was performed, by searching in PubMed and Scopus’ databases, and identifying relevant articles from 2010 to 2015.

Conclusions: 19 items that responded to our goal, were included. Only 8 of them showed to have found a positive association between the consumption of red and processedmeat and CCR, but each associated were with a different anatomic site. Cooking methods, doneness level and cooking time, ended with mixed results, clear association can’ t be established, there were only positive association for the conservation of pickled meat and a negative association for cooking in the oven. The association for mutagenic compounds, heterocyclic amines (HCAs) and biomarkers, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and N-nitroso compounds (NOCs) did appear contribute to an increased risk of CRC. Subtypes of red and processed meat were classified by each study differently. Confounding factors such as consumption of dietary fiber, fruits and vegetables, alcohol, smoke or physical activity pattern influenced the results.