Risk of Breast Cancer Among Premenopausal Women and Red Meat Intake.

Eating more red meat may be associated with a higher risk for hormone receptor-positive breast cancers in premenopausal women, according to a report in the November 13 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

"Breast tumors are often characterized by hormone (estrogen and progesterone) receptor status," the authors write as background information in the article, meaning that the cancer is classified by whether these hormones can bind to proteins on the surface of the tumor. "Although the incidence rates of hormone receptor-negative tumors have remained relatively constant, the incidence of hormone receptor-positive tumors has been increasing in the United States, especially among middle-aged women." The diets of American women may be linked to this increase, since some foods--including certain components of red meat--can contain hormones or hormone-like compounds that influence tumors through their hormone receptors.

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