Barbecue season is near, but you might think twice about firing up the grill after the release of new studies that say eating flame-broiled steak may raise the risk of developing breast cancer. The researchers found no association with total meat consumption or red meat consumption, but they found a twofold risk of breast cancer in women who consumed the most-well-done meat compared with those who ate less-cooked meat.

Cooking meat at high temperatures, by frying, broiling and barbecuing, produces heterocyclic amines, a product of the reaction between creatine, a chemical in muscles, with amino acids, a core component of protein, as well as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, the compounds found on charred food, both of which have been proved [proven] to promote cancer in animals.

The longer the meat is cooked and the higher the temperature, the more of these compounds, which scientists say are also likely to be carcinogens for humans, are produced. The Iowa Women's study estimated the amount of three types of heterocyclic amines in diets based on answers to questions about the amount of meat consumed, how the meat was cooked and how well it was cooked.

Only PhIP, the principle heterocyclic tied to breast cancer in animals, showed a correlation to breast cancer risk in the study population. In a separate study, researchers at Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health in Baltimore found that women with the highest levels of a certain kind of enzyme associated with activating heterocyclic amines were most susceptible to breast cancer. They found that women who ate flame-broiled meat more than twice a month had an increased risk of developing breast cancer. This suggests that it is not just exposure to risk factors but a combination of genetic profiles and exposure that dictates cancer risk.

Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research April 3,2000