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Consumption of well-cooked meat increases the risk of developing aggressive prostate cancer
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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A new study by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) provides further evidence of a link between eating well-done red meat and aggressive prostate cancer. The researchers hope the findings will help identify potential cancer-causing compounds in red meat and, therefore, strategies for preventing prostate cancer.
The aim of this study was to determine the association between the development of different types of prostate cancer and different types of red meat processing during cooking, and to analyze the different compounds and carcinogens that may increase the risk of prostate cancer.
The case-control study followed 470 men with aggressive prostate cancer and 512 controls who did not have prostate cancer between 2001 and 2004. By interviewing the participants, the researchers were able to assess not only the amount of meat they had consumed in the past 12 months, but also the type of meat, how it was cooked, and how well done the meat was.
The scientists used a National Cancer Institute database that contains information on the amount of mutagens for each type of meat, depending on the method of preparation and the degree of doneness. This data, along with information on the amount of meat consumed by respondents, helped the researchers estimate the participants’ levels of chemicals that can be converted into cancer-causing compounds, or carcinogens, such as heterocyclic amines (HCAs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).
Then, using statistical tools, they analyzed the data they collected to establish a link "between the method of cooking meat (boiling, grilling), the degree of doneness, carcinogens and the risk of developing aggressive prostate cancer.
Scientists have found that:
- Eating any ground or processed meat in large quantities is strongly associated with the development of aggressive prostate cancer.
- Eating well-done barbecued or grilled meat was associated with a higher risk of aggressive prostate cancer.
- Men who ate large amounts of well-done meat were twice as likely to develop aggressive prostate cancer as men who did not eat meat.
- On the other hand, no association was found between eating medium-cooked meat and developing aggressive prostate cancer.
- MelQx and DiMelQx were found to be potential carcinogens when meat is cooked at high temperatures, causing an increased risk of developing aggressive prostate cancer.
In their analysis of the study's results, the scientists point to several mechanisms by which potential carcinogenic compounds or their precursors are formed during the process of cooking well-done meat. For example, heterocyclic amines (HCAs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are chemicals that form when meats such as beef, pork, fish, or chicken are cooked in a pan or over an open flame.
Thus, cooking meat over an open fire results in fat and juice dripping into the fire, forming PAHs, which, when the flame is high, return back to the meat.
The study results show that eating large amounts of meat (especially well-done meat) significantly increases the risk of developing aggressive prostate cancer.