Poultry Consumption Linked to Lower Risk of Breast Cancer

A US prospective cohort study found that while eating more red meat is associated with a greater risk of developing invasive breast cancer, eating more poultry is linked to a lower risk. The study enrolled 42,012 participants from 2003 to 2009 with a mean follow up of 7.6 years. A total of 1,536 invasive breast cancers were diagnosed at least 1 year after enrollment. Increasing consumption of red meat was associated with increased risk of invasive breast cancer (HR_{highest vs. lowest quartile}:1.23). Conversely, increasing consumption of poultry was associated with decreased invasive breast cancer risk (HR _{highest vs. lowest quartile}: 0.85). In a substitution model with combined red meat and poultry consumption held constant, substituting poultry for red meat was associated with decreased invasive breast cancer risk (HR _{highest vs. lowest quartile} of poultry consumption: 0.72). The findings are consistent with previous studies. Red meat has been identified as a probable carcinogen in addition to other adverse effects on health. Source: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ijc