They also found that the daily consumption of about 1.8 ounces of processed meat could also increase the risk of stomach cancer by nearly 18 percent.
Advertisement
Stomach cancer is the third most common cause of cancer death.
Researchers say obesity also plays a significant role in stomach cancer, making it the 11th type of cancer, linked to excess body fat.
But eating citrus fruits may decrease the risk, experts said.
In it, the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) and the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) find links between eating processed meat and developing cancer of the lower stomach.
Other risks include obesity and eating foods preserved by salting, particularly Asian-style salted vegetables or dried salted fish.
Additionally, the analysis points to strong evidence that being overweight makes a person more susceptible to stomach cancer.
The researchers took an additional step by looking at how the risk factors affected the two different types of stomach cancer – cancers of the upper stomach near the esophagus, and cancers of the lower stomach. “It is an invaluable contribution to the growing evidence that exists on cancer prevention”.
The WCRF advised people to eat little, if any, processed meat and eat no more than 500g (cooked weight) of red meat a week.
According to Cancer Research UK there were 7,067 new cases of stomach cancer in the UK in 2013.
A research team from Imperial College in London looked at 89 studies of 17.5 million patients, including 77,000 cases of stomach cancer.
Drinking alcohol, eating processed meat and being overweight have been “strongly” linked to stomach cancer for the first time.
For any meat-eaters left out there: cover your ears, because today sees news of yet another link between cancer and our your old friend bacon. Men typically are more likely to develop stomach cancer, compared to women, and the average age of diagnosis is 72 years.
“I think that this just adds more support to the advice we’ve already given to avoid processed meat”, said Higginbotham.
The Continuous Update Project (CUP) report was led by the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) and the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF).
Notably, the U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans and World Health Organization have each recently affirmed that red and processed meats can be part of a balanced diet.
Processed meats contain preservatives like nitrates and salt, or byproducts like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) when smoked.
Advertisement
Dr Louis Levy, head of nutrition science at Public Health England, said: “We know that being obese and drinking alcohol both increase your risk of certain cancers”.
