Woon Jun Yu, Vidanapathirana Gihani, Lam Alfred K, Gopalan Vinod
School of Medicine and Dentistry, Griffith University, Gold Coast Campus, Southport, Gold Coast, QLD, 4222, Australia.
Department of Medical Laboratory Science, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.
J Gastrointest Cancer. 2025 Aug 7;56(1):170. doi: 10.1007/s12029-025-01247-3.
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer worldwide, with rising incidence in younger populations. Red meat consumption has been proposed as a risk factor for CRC, though the evidence remains inconsistent. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to examine the associations between the consumption of beef, pork, and lamb with CRC, colon cancer (CC), and rectal cancer (RC) risk.
The findings from 27 studies published between 1993 and 2024 were included, involving over 1 million participants from diverse geographical regions. Relative risks were calculated using random-effects meta-analysis, with subgroup and meta-regression analyses performed to assess potential sources of heterogeneity.
Beef consumption was significantly associated with increased CRC risk, with a 30% overall risk increase (95% CI: 1.10-1.54). The association with colon cancer (CC) was marginally significant (RR = 1.19, 95% CI: 0.99-1.43, p = 0.0585), while the link to rectal cancer (RC) was not statistically significant. Pork consumption was associated with a 17% increased CRC risk (95% CI: 1.09-1.25), with similar, nonsignificant trends for CC and RC. Lamb consumption was weakly associated with an 11% increase in CRC risk (95% CI: 1.02-1.21), though this was based on limited studies (n = 6), and no significant associations emerged for cancer subtypes. Study design and confounding factors influenced these associations, with case-control studies reporting stronger associations than cohort studies. Physical activity adjustments were pivotal, as studies without this adjustment consistently reported higher-risk estimates.
These findings emphasise the importance of accounting several lifestyle factors in future research and public health guidance. While these results support current dietary guidelines recommending limited red meat consumption, they also underscore the complexity of diet-cancer relationships and the need for comprehensive, lifestyle-inclusive cancer prevention strategies.
结直肠癌（CRC）是全球第三大常见癌症，在年轻人群中的发病率呈上升趋势。尽管证据仍不一致，但红肉消费已被认为是结直肠癌的一个风险因素。本系统评价和荟萃分析旨在研究牛肉、猪肉和羊肉消费与结直肠癌、结肠癌（CC）和直肠癌（RC）风险之间的关联。
纳入了1993年至2024年发表的27项研究的结果，涉及来自不同地理区域的100多万参与者。使用随机效应荟萃分析计算相对风险，并进行亚组和荟萃回归分析以评估异质性的潜在来源。
牛肉消费与结直肠癌风险增加显著相关，总体风险增加30%（95%CI：1.10-1.54）。与结肠癌（CC）的关联接近显著（RR = 1.19，95%CI：0.99-1.43，p = 0.0585），而与直肠癌（RC）的关联无统计学意义。猪肉消费与结直肠癌风险增加17%相关（95%CI：1.09-1.25），结肠癌和直肠癌的趋势相似但不显著。羊肉消费与结直肠癌风险增加11%弱相关（95%CI：1.02-1.21），不过这是基于有限的研究（n = 6），且未发现与癌症亚型有显著关联。研究设计和混杂因素影响了这些关联，病例对照研究报告的关联比队列研究更强。身体活动调整至关重要，因为未进行这种调整的研究一致报告了更高的风险估计。
这些发现强调了在未来研究和公共卫生指导中考虑多种生活方式因素的重要性。虽然这些结果支持当前建议限制红肉消费的饮食指南，但它们也强调了饮食与癌症关系的复杂性以及制定全面的、包含生活方式的癌症预防策略的必要性。
