Consumption of Different Types of Meat and the Risk of Renal Cancer: Meta-Analysis of Case–Control Studies

BERKELEY, CA (UroToday.com) - Epidemiologic studies have attempted to identify potential environmental and health factors that are linked to the development of renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

A variety of factors have been implicated including smoking, obesity, hypertension, diabetes, chronic renal disease, alcohol, as well as coffee and tea intake. The biggest problem with most of these studies is that there usually are confounding variables that influence the incidence of RCC that are difficult to control for, thus making conclusions regarding risk factors very difficult. Meat consumption has been linked to RCC in the past but many of the studies have suffered from being underpowered statistically. Here, Faramawi and colleagues conducted a meta-analysis of all case-controlled studies examining meat consumption and incidence of RCC to determine if combining these studies might allow a more conclusive statement regarding risk.

The authors identified 13 case controlled studies that were conducted over a 40 year period. Patients in each study were categorized according to their level of meat intake (all meat, processed meat, red meat, and poultry). The authors found that increased meat consumption was associated with a 20-22% increased risk of RCC in their meta-analysis. The hazard ratios were 1.27 for all meat, 1.3 for red meat,1.22 for poultry, and 1.20 for processed meat.

A common question of patients following surgery for RCC is what changes they should make in their lifestyle and diet to preserve their overall health and renal function. This meta-analysis would suggest that reducing meat intake of all kinds might reduce the risk of RCC recurrence in the future and that reducing meat intake in the general population might decrease the incidence of RCC. Of course, there are other benefits of reducing meat intake (cardiac, etc.) that would be concomitantly beneficial with this reduction.