The association between meat and fish consumption and bladder cancer risk: a pooled analysis of 11 cohort studies

Mostafa Dianatinasab,Inge Huybrechts,Maree Brinkman,Fredrik Liedberg,Emily White,Guri Skeie,Elio Riboli,Maurice P Zeegers,Marc J Gunter,Anne Tjonneland,Anke Wesselius,Amin Salehi-Abargouei,Tessa De Loeij,Elisabete Weiderpass,Evan Y W Yu,Piet Van Den Brandt,Florence Le Calvez-Kelm,Mohammad Fararouei

doi:10.1007/s10654-021-00762-4

Abstract

Evidence on the effects of meat consumption from different sources on the risk of bladder cancer (BC) is limited and controversial. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the associations between meat consumption and BC risk using a pooled data approach. Individual data from 11 prospective cohorts comprising 2848 BC cases and 515,697 non-cases with a total of 5,498,025 person-years of follow-up was pooled and analysed to investigate the potential associations between total red meat and products, red meat, processed meat, poultry and total fish and BC risk. Hazard ratios (HRs), with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs), were estimated using Cox regression models stratified on cohort. Overall, an increased BC risk was found for high intake of organ meat (HR comparing highest with lowest tertile: 1.18, 95% CI: 1.03, 1.36, p-trend = 0.03). On the contrary, a marginally inverse association was observed for total fish intake and BC risk among men (HR comparing highest with lowest tertile: 0.79, 95% CI 0.65, 0.97, p-trend = 0.04). No associations were observed for other meat sources. Results of this prospective study suggest that organ meat consumption may be associated with BC development. Replication in large-scale prospective studies and investigation of possible causal mechanisms is needed.

Highlights

Cancer of the bladder (BC) is among the top ten most common cancer types in the world, with approximately 573,000 new cases and 213,000 deaths [1]
We found that greater consumption of organ meats was associated with an increased risk of bladder cancer (BC)
This association remained stable after additional adjustment for poultry meat and fish intake

Summary

Introduction

Cancer of the bladder (BC) is among the top ten most common cancer types in the world, with approximately 573,000 new cases and 213,000 deaths [1]. BC occurs mainly in men and elderly [1] and approximately 75% of the bladder cancers are non-muscle-invasive (NMIBC) which require intensive treatment and follow-up measures, thereby posing a large burden on national health care budgets [3]. Epidemiological studies have identified several factors which potentially influence BC risk, including; sex, smoking, age and certain occupations [3, 4]. The latest World Cancer Research Fund International (WCRF) report stated that evidence from epidemiologic studies on the association between diet and BC is still scarce and largely inconsistent [6]

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