Meat, salted fish and colon cancer risk

B0TH the meat-laden western diet and the traditional, salty diet of the Japanese apparently increase the risk of colon cancer for women, findings from a large study suggest.

Researchers in Japan found that among more than 42,000 adults followed for 10 years, women with either a western pattern of eating or a diet heavy in traditional Japanese foods like salted fish and pickled vegetables had a higher risk of colon cancer compared with women who were deemed healthy eaters.

Dr Mi Kyung Kim and colleagues at the National Cancer Centre in Tokyo reported the findings in the July 10 issue of the International Journal of Cancer.

In that study, eating fish in general was tied to a lower risk of colon cancer but a heavyconsumption of salted fish and vegetables has been tied to higher colon cancer risk. The reasons are unclear, but research in lab animals has shown that substances in salt-preserved foods called nitrosamines may promote cancerous changes in cells, Kim's team points out.

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