Red meat diet linked to colon cancer recurrence

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Colon cancer survivors with diets heavy in red meat and fatty foods are more than three times as likely to suffer a recurrence of their disease or die from it than those who avoid such foods, a study found.

Previous studies had shown that a high-fat diet, especially one with lots of red meat, may increase a person's risk of developing colon cancer, a leading cancer killer.

This study, published on Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, was the first to show how diet affects whether colon cancer returns in people previously treated for it, the researchers said.

The study tracked 1,009 people treated with both surgery and chemotherapy for stage III colon cancer -- cancer that had spread from the large bowel area to the lymph nodes but not other organs. They were followed on average for five years. ...more