More research links high red meat intake to breast cancer

Breast cancer continues to be the leading cause of cancer-related illness and premature death among women worldwide. A new study in The Lancet Oncology has found that high red meat consumption contributes the most to the global breast cancer burden among modifiable risk factors, amid rising cases in younger women.

In 2023, there were an estimated 2.3 million breast cancer cases globally resulting in 764,000 deaths and around 24 million years of healthy life lost due to illness and early death (the breast cancer burden).

In this largest study of its kind, an international group of scientists analysed breast cancer data from 1990 to 2023 from more than 200 countries. They found that 28 per cent (6.8 million years) of the global breast cancer burden was linked to six potentially modifiable risk factors, with high red meat intake topping the table. This aligns with other research highlighting the links between meat and breast cancer.

You may not be able to do anything about your genes, your age or some environmental factors but there are things you can change. Six modifiable risk factors were identified:

• high red meat consumption (11%)
• tobacco use including second-hand smoke (8%)
• high blood sugar (6%)
• high BMI (4%)
• high alcohol (2%)
• low physical activity (2%)

The number of new breast cancer cases worldwide is predicted to rise by a third from 2.3 million in 2023 to over 3.5 million in 2050; and the annual number of deaths globally is forecast to increase by 44 per cent from 764,000 to nearly 1.4 million.

Although some of this increase will be attributed to population growth and ageing, these findings suggest modifiable diet and lifestyle factors are still major contributors to the risk of breast cancer.

There has been progress in reducing the global breast cancer burden from high alcohol (down 47 per cent) and tobacco (down 28 per cent) between 1990 and 2023, but dietary risk factors show no similar decline and continue to be largely ignored, as they are for many other diseases.

So, there is still much to be done. This study suggests that making healthier diet and lifestyle choices, including lowering or avoiding red meat, could prevent over a quarter of healthy years lost to illness and early death due to breast cancer worldwide.

Reference: Bhangdia K, May ML, Kocarnik JM et al. 2026. Global, regional, and national burden of breast cancer among females, 1990–2023, with forecasts to 2050: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2023. The Lancet Oncology. 27, I3, 302-326.