Association between ultra-processed foods and risk of cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Ying Lian; Gang-Pu Wang; Guo-Qiang Chen; Hua-Nan Chen; Guang-Yong Zhang

doi:10.3389/fnut.2023.1175994

Association between ultra-processed foods and risk of cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Front Nutr. 2023 Jun 8:10:1175994. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2023.1175994. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Ying Lian^#^{1

2}, Gang-Pu Wang^#³, Guo-Qiang Chen^{1

2}, Hua-Nan Chen^{1

2}, Guang-Yong Zhang⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Health Management and Engineering Laboratory for Health Management, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University and Shandong Provincial Qianfoshan Hospital, Jinan, China.
² Department of Medical Record Management and Statistics, Shandong Provincial Qianfoshan Hospital and The First Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, China.
³ Department of General Surgery, The Fourth People's Hospital of Jinan City, Jinan, China.
⁴ Department of General Surgery, Shandong Provincial Qianfoshan Hospital and The First Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Background: Despite increasing evidence that has shown the association of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) with cancer risk, the results remain inconclusive. We, therefore, conducted the meta-analysis to clarify the association by including recently published studies.

Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted in PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science to identify all relevant studies from inception to January 2023. To pool data, fixed-effects or random-effects models were used where appropriate. Subgroup analyses, sensitivity analyses, and publication bias tests were performed.

Results: A total of 13 studies (4 cohort studies and 9 case-control studies) were included in the analysis, with a total of 625,738 participants. The highest UPFs consumption was associated with increased risk of colorectal cancer (OR = 1.23, 95% CI: 1.10-1.38), colon cancer (OR = 1.25, 95% CI: 1.14-1.36), and breast cancer (OR = 1.10, 95% CI: 1.00-1.20) but not rectal cancer (OR = 1.18, 95% CI: 0.97-1.43) and prostate cancer (OR = 1.03, 95% CI: 0.93-1.12). In addition, the subgroup analyses showed that a positive association between UPFs consumption and colorectal cancer was observed among men (OR = 1.31, 95% CI: 1.15-1.50), whereas no significant association was observed among women (OR = 1.10, 95% CI: 0.94-1.29).

Conclusion: The present meta-analysis suggests that high UPFs consumption is associated with a significantly increased risk of certain site-specific cancers, especially the digestive tract and some hormone-related cancers. However, further rigorously designed prospective and experimental studies are needed to better understand causal pathways.

Keywords: breast cancer; colorectal cancer; meta-analysis; systematic review; ultra-processed foods (UPFs).

Publication types

Systematic Review

Grants and funding

This study was supported by the Shandong Provincial Key Research and Development Program (grant no. 2019GSF108196), the Science and Technology Project of Jinan (grant no. 2019-1-17, 2022-1-25), the Center of China–US Sports Economics and Health Engineering of Shandong (grant no. SDCA20191013), and the Academic Promotion Programme of Shandong First Medical University (grant no. 2019QL013). The funding sources had no role in study design, data analysis and interpretation of data, the writing of the manuscript, or the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.