Meat consumption among Black and White men and prostate cancer in the Cancer Prevention Study II Nutrition Cohort.

Increased intake of processed and unprocessed red meat is associated with high incidence of prostate cancer among Black men.

This study investigated the relationship between the consumption of red meat and processed meat and the incidence of prostate cancer among Black and White men. Using validated food frequency questionnaires, researchers examined the meat intakes of 692 Black and 64,856 White men recruited from the Cancer Prevention Study II Nutrition Cohort for 8 years. The prostate cancer risk hazard ratio was quantified in all the subjects.

Researchers discovered that Black men who regularly consumed large amounts of red meat and processed meat products—especially sausages, bacon, and hot dogs— had a higher risk of developing prostate cancer than those who are rare- or non-consumers of processed and unprocessed red meat. According to this study, high intake of processed and unprocessed red meat did not contribute positively to the development of prostate cancer in White men examined in this study. The findings of this study further strengthen the hypothesis that ingesting high quantities of processed and unprocessed red meat may increase prostate cancer risk in Black men.