Meat intake and cooking techniques: associations with pancreatic cancer

Heterocyclic amines (HCAs), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), formed in temperature and time-dependent manners during cooking of meat, may increase the risk of certain cancers. As these compounds could be carcinogenic for the pancreas, we assessed meat intake, preparation methods, and doneness preferences as risk factors for exocrine pancreatic cancer. In a case-control study (cases=193, controls=674), subjects provided information on their usual meat intake and how it was cooked, e.g. fried, grilled or barbecued (BBQ), etc. Meat doneness preferences were measured using photographs that showed internal doneness and external brownness with a numerical scale. Data were analyzed with unconditional logistic regression. Odds ratios (ORs) increased with increased intake of grilled/BBQ red meat in an analysis adjusted for age, sex, smoking, education, race, and diabetes. Based on amount of BBQ meat consumed, the OR and 95% confidence interval (CI) for the fifth quintile relative to the reference group (quintiles 1 and 2) was 2.19 (1.4, 3.4). Findings were not substantively changed by further adjustment for calories, total fat, fruit and vegetables, or alcohol consumption (from a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ)). Other meat variables did not show statistically significant associations with risk nor did they substantively alter the findings for BBQ. These included total meat, processed meat, total red meat, total white meat, total broiled meat, total fried meat, or total meat cooked by means other than grilling. We conclude that grilled red meat intake is a risk factor for pancreatic cancer and that method of meat preparation in addition to total intake is important in assessing the effects of meat consumption in epidemiologic studies.