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. 2022 Mar 9;27(6):1794. doi: 10.3390/molecules27061794

Table 1.

Genotoxic effects of specific foods and site of cancer.

Sites Food Carcinogenic Effect/Clinical Studies Reference
Breast Red meat
  • (1)

    Increasing consumption of red meat was associated with an increased risk of invasive breast cancer.

  • (2)

    Dietary heme iron, fat, and N-glycolylneuraminic acid are indicated to possibly increase tumour formation, as these compounds are found in red meat.

[119,120]
Alcohol
  • (1)

    Increased circulating levels of estrogen in both premenopausal and postmenopausal women, which might occur through reduced steroid degradation and increased aromatase activity, enhances the transcriptional activity of ER.

  • (2)

    Contributes to carcinogenesis partly through oxidation from alcohol metabolism and oxidative stress from the production of the alpha-hydroxyethyl radical, a reactive oxygen species, then metabolized to acetaldehyde.

[121,122]
Dairy Milk
  • (1)

    Higher intakes of dairy milk were associated with a greater risk of breast cancer

[123]
Colon Red meat
  • (1)

    High intakes of red and, in particular, processed red meat in unbalanced diets contribute CRC development, PAHs, and HCAs, and dietary NOCs can initiate mutations.

  • (2)

    A dose–response relationship between heme iron and the promotion of colon carcinogenesis through the fat peroxidation pathway and the N-nitroso pathway where the catalytic role of heme iron from red meat or nitrosyl heme from processed meat is involved in the endogenous production of NOCs, and production of malondialdehyde, which is a carcinogen. Comparatively, heme iron promotes reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, which induces genetic mutations.

  • (3)

    Participants who reported consuming an average of 76 g/day of red and processed meat compared with 21 g/day had a 20% (95% confidence interval (CI): 4–37) higher risk of colorectal cancer.

[124,125,126]
Bladder Red meat
  • (1)

    Processed meat may be positively associated with bladder cancer risk (red meat was linearly associated with bladder cancer risk in case-control studies, with a pooled RR of 1.51 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.13, 2.02) for every 100 g increase per day)

  • (2)

    Intake of processed red meat was significantly associated with the incidence of bladder cancer after multivariate adjustment (highest vs. lowest quintile: HR, 1.47; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.12–1.93; p-trend = 0.008). In contrast, there was only a suggestive but no significant association between the intake of total processed meat and bladder cancer risk after multivariable adjustment (highest vs. lowest quintile: HR, 1.16; 95% CI, 0.89–1.50; p-trend = 0.073).

  • (3)

    Increased BC risk was found for a high intake of organ meat (hazard ratio comparing highest with the lowest tertile: 1.18, 95% CI: 1.03, 1.36, p-trend = 0.03)

  • (4)

    Liver and salami, pastrami or corned beef were found to be associated with increased risk of bladder cancer. Consumption of meats with high nitrate/nitrite, high amine and heme content.

[127,128,129,130]
Renal Meat
  • (1)

    BaP intake, a PAH in barbecued meat, was positively associated with RCC.

  • (2)

    A meta-analysis indicates a significant positive association between red and processed meat intake and RCC risk (large prospective cohort study observed increased risk of RCC with high consumption of nitrate and nitrite, the precursor of NOCs, and total RCC (hazard ratio = 1.28, 95% CI, 1.10–1.49)

[131,132,133]