ArticleInternational journal of cancer2016
Red and processed meat, nitrite, and heme iron intakes and postmenopausal breast cancer risk in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study.
Article in International journal of cancer, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 55 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
55 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 104 citations in OpenAlex.
- Dietary factors associated with breast cancer among women in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis of case-control studies.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Pooled it
- Health effects associated with consumption of unprocessed red meat: a Burden of Proof study.Nature medicine · 2022Pooled it
- Consumption of red meat and processed meat and cancer incidence: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies.European journal of epidemiology · 2021Pooled it
- Intake of Various Food Groups and Risk of Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review and Dose-Response Meta-Analysis of Prospective Studies.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2021Pooled it
- Iron intake, body iron status, and risk of breast cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC cancer · 2019Pooled it
- Consumption of red and processed meat and breast cancer incidence: A systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies.International journal of cancer · 2018Pooled it
- Association between dietary nitrate and nitrite intake and sitespecific cancer risk: evidence from observational studies.Oncotarget · 2016Pooled it
- Dietary iron intake and breast cancer risk: modulation by an antioxidant supplementation.Oncotarget · 2016Trial
- Ultraprocessed food intake and postmenopausal breast cancer risk in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study.Journal of the National Cancer Institute · 2026Article
- Nutrition Across the Life Course and Risk of Young-Onset Breast Cancer: Mechanisms, Evidence, and Prevention Opportunities.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Association of daily diet and incidence of head and neck cancer: a prospective cohort study of UK biobank participants.European journal of nutrition · 2026Observational
- Dietary Diversity Score Associated With a Reduced Risk of Breast Cancer: A Large Population-Based Incident Case-Control Study.Current developments in nutrition · 2026Article
- The association between urinary nitrate and prostate specific antigen without prostatic disease: a cohort study.BMC urology · 2025Article
- Plant-Based Diet and Risk of Iron-deficiency Anemia. A Review of the Current Evidence and Implications for Preventive Strategies.Current nutrition reports · 2025Review
- Burden of Breast Cancer Attributable to a Diet High in Red Meat at Global, Regional, and National Levels: An Analysis of the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021.Archives of Iranian medicine · 2025Article
- The impact of diet and gut microbiota on development, treatment, and prognosis in prostate cancer.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Review
- A Case-Control Study of Dietary Choline Intake and Risk of Colorectal Cancer Modified by Dietary B-Vitamin Intake.Nutrients · 2024Article
- Double-Edged Sword Effect of Diet and Nutrition on Carcinogenic Molecular Pathways in Breast Cancer.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Association between dietary factors and breast cancer risk: a matched case-control study in Vietnam.BMC cancer · 2024Article
- Association between Healthy Eating Index-2015 total and component food scores with reproductive lifespan among postmenopausal women: a population-based study from NHANES 2005-2016.BMC public health · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Previous studies have shown inconsistent associations between red and processed meat intake and breast cancer risk. N-nitroso compounds and heme iron have been hypothesized as contributing factors. We followed 193,742 postmenopausal women in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study and identified 9,305 incident breast cancers (1995-2006). Dietary intake was assessed using a food frequency questionnaire at baseline. We adjusted daily intakes of meat, nitrite and heme iron for energy intake using the nutrient density method. We estimated multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) by quintiles of dietary exposures for all breast cancer, by stage (in-situ, localized, regional/distant) and by estrogen/progesterone receptor (ER/PR) status using Cox proportional hazards regression. Total red meat intake was positively associated with risk of regional/distant cancer (p-trend = 0.02). The risk was 25% higher in the highest vs. lowest intake quintile (95% CI = 1.03-1.52). Higher processed red meat intake (Q5 vs. Q1) was associated with 27% higher risk of localized breast cancer (95% CI = 1.01-1.27, p-trend = 0.03) and a 19% higher risk of regional/distant cancer (95% CI = 0.98-1.44, p-trend = 0.10). In addition, higher nitrite intake from processed red meat was positively associated with localized cancer (HR for Q5 vs. Q1 = 1.23, 95% CI = 1.09-1.39, p-trend < 0.0001). Heme iron intake was positively associated with breast cancer risk overall and all cancer stages (p-trend = 0.02-0.05). No heterogeneity was observed in risk associations by hormone receptor status. Our findings suggest that high consumption of red meat and processed meat may increase risk of postmenopausal breast cancer. Added nitrite and heme iron may partly contribute to these observed associations.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.