Consumption of different types of meat and the risk of renal cancer: meta-analysis of case–control studies

Abstract Background  Kidney cancers account for almost 2% of all cancers worldwide, with 150,000 new cases and 78,000 deaths from the disease occurring annually. An increase in the incidence of kidney neoplasm in western countries was noticed in the past few years. Between 1988 and 1992, the incidence of renal cancer per 100,000 person-year among males in USA, Norway, and France was 34.1, 9.00, and 16.10, respectively. Among females in the same countries, it was 5.70, 5.00, and 7.30, respectively. Although several individual case–control studies examined the association of meat intake and renal cancer risk, the results were inconsistent because of the insufficient statistical power of the individual studies. Therefore, the following meta-analysis was designed to help in clarifying the association.