The study led by De Stefani E of University of the Republic in Montevideo, Uruguay and colleagues conducted the study and found eating processed meat was particularly significantly associated with risk of cancers of the colon, rectum, stomach, oesophagus, and lung.
The researchers analysed data from 6060 men and women with 3528 cases of cancer and 2532 controls without cancer to examine the association between consumption of processed meat and risk of cancers of multiple sites including the oral cavity, pharynx, esophagus, stomach, colon, rectum, lung, larynx, female breast, prostate, urinary bladder, and kidney (renal cell carcinoma only).
Cancers of all sites except for renal cell carcinoma were significantly associated with consumption of processed meat, the researchers found. Specifically, processed meats, i.e., mortadella, salami, hot dog, ham, and salted meat were strongly associated with risk of a number of cancers.
The researchers concluded "It could be concluded that processed meat intake could be a powerful multi-organ carcinogen."
