Red Meat Tied to Higher Colon Cancer Risk in Women

https://www.webmd.com/colorectal-cancer/news/20180403/red-meat-tied-to-higher-colon-cancer-risk-in-women

By EJ Mundell

HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, April 3, 2018 (HealthDay News) -- Another study, this time in British women, finds that diets high in red meat are linked to higher odds for colon cancer.

Numerous studies have linked a high intake of red meat to colon cancer. In fact, guidelines from the American Institute for Cancer Research and World Cancer Research Fund International, released in September, recommended that people limit their intake of red meat to just over a pound per week to lower colon cancer risk.

In the new study, researchers tracked data on more than 32,000 women in the United Kingdom who were followed for an average of 17 years.

During that time, 335 cases of colon cancer were diagnosed, including 119 cases of distal colon cancer, which occurs in the descending section of the colon, where feces is stored.

Women who regularly ate red meat were more likely to develop distal colon cancer than those who did not eat red meat, according to the research team led by Diego Rada Fernandez de Jauregui, of the Nutrition Epidemiology Group at the University of Leeds.

Two experts in the United States noted that while the study had its flaws, the findings could give guidance to people concerned about cancer risk.

The research couldn't prove cause and effect, but "multiple studies have already highlighted that long-term consumption of red meat or processed meats are associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer, particularly for left-sided or distal tumors, and this study does uphold this," said Dr. Elena Ivanina. She's a gastroenterologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.

Ivanina said that even though the study didn't control for certain factors -- the women's use of supplements or cancer-fighting aspirin, for example -- it "does positively reinforce the importance of a meat-free diet in preventing colorectal cancer."

And colon surgeon Dr. Nathaniel Holmes stressed that when it comes to preventing these cancers, "a low-fat, high-fiber diet is recommended."

Beyond that, "smoking, alcohol consumption and obesity are all associated with increased risk of colon and rectal cancer," said Holmes, who practices at Staten Island University Hospital in New York City.

The study was published April 2 in the International Journal of Cancer.

WebMD News from HealthDay

Too Few Baby Boomers Get Hepatitis C Screening

“Schedule your Hepatitis C screening today.”

— Dr. P

https://www.webmd.com/hepatitis/news/20180329/too-few-baby-boomers-get-hepatitis-c-screening#1

By Robert Preidt

HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, March 29, 2018 (HealthDay News) -- Despite recommendations, only about one in 10 U.S. baby boomers has been screened for hepatitis C virus (HCV), a new study reveals.

Hepatitis C is a contagious virus that causes nearly half of the cases of liver cancer in the United States. Health officials estimate that about one in 30 Americans born between 1945 and 1965 (the baby boom generation) has chronic HCV infection.

But most don't know it.

"Hepatitis C is an interesting virus because people who develop a chronic infection remain asymptomatic for decades and don't know they're infected," said study lead author Monica Kasting.

"Most of the baby boomers who screen positive for HCV infection were infected over 30 years ago, before the virus was identified," added Kasting, a postdoctoral fellow at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommend that baby boomers get a blood test to screen for HCV.

But when Kasting and colleagues analyzed federal government data, they found that HCV screening rates among baby boomers ranged from 11.9 percent in 2013 to 12.8 percent in 2015.

The study findings were published in the March 27 issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

Women were less likely to have been screened than men. The researchers also found that among baby boomers and Americans born between 1966 and 1985, HCV screening rates were lower among Hispanics and blacks.

"This is concerning because these groups have higher rates of HCV infection and higher rates of advanced liver disease," Kasting said in a journal news release.

"This may reflect a potential health disparity in access to screening, and therefore treatment, for a highly curable infection," she added.

The most important study finding is that the HCV screening rate isn't increasing in a meaningful way, said Anna Giuliano, who founded Moffitt's Center for Infection Research in Cancer. "Between 2013 and 2015, HCV screening only increased by 0.9 percent in the baby boomer population," she pointed out.

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