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Pooled review (meta-analysis)

Pooled review of 232 studies: no clear link between red meat and stomach cancer

Poorolajal and colleagues · Epidemiology and health · 2020

Original title: Risk factors for stomach cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Under review. A person has not yet checked this summary against the paper. It is written from the PubMed abstract. Until a person checks it, search engines are asked not to list this page.

What the study found

No difference

For red meat 4 or more times a week and stomach cancer, the odds ratio was 1.31 (95% CI, 0.87 to 1.96). The range includes 1, so no clear link.

The study at a glance

Type of study
Pooled review (meta-analysis)
Who or what was studied
232 studies, 33,831,063 people · People in 232 studies of habits and stomach cancer
What was tested
Eating red meat 4 or more times a week vs less, one of 14 factors checked
What it measured
The question itself: cancer, heart disease and death
Who has a stake
No stake declared
No conflicts of interest declared; funded by a university.
Journal
Epidemiology and health, 2020
Source
PubMed record 32023777. This page is based on the abstract only.

How much this study counts

  • ✓Pools the results of 232 studies with 33,831,063 people.
  • •A pooled review is only as strong as the studies it pools.
  • ✓Measured the question itself: cancer, heart disease and death.
  • ✓No competing interests declared.
  • •Summarized from the PubMed abstract only. The full paper may hold details the abstract leaves out.

✓ Strength– Limit• Note

These points come from fixed rules about the type of study, its size and length, what it measured, and who has a stake. Every study on Digestery gets the same rules.

Where this study sits

This paper is not on the ladder. It is a pooled review (meta-analysis), and reviews and opinion pieces discuss studies that are already counted on the steps below.

↑ Stronger evidence

  1. Trials in people: cancer and heart disease

    0

    Not done yet. This is the step that would answer the question.

  2. Trials in people: other measures

    0

    None among the papers we read.

  3. Trials in people: lab tests or safety

    6

    2 benefit, 4 harm

  4. Population studies

    12

    1 benefit, 2 mixed, 1 no difference, 8 harm

  5. Blood levels and genes

    0

    None among the papers we read.

↓ Weaker evidence

  • Points to benefit
  • Mixed
  • No difference
  • No direction
  • Points to harm

How it fits with the other research

The short answer to “Does red meat raise cancer and heart disease risk?”

Linked to higher risk, especially processed meat.

Confidence: low. Based on 30 on-topic papers.

Read the full answer

Other reviews on this question

See all 30 studies on this question

How this page was made

Label

First read of the abstract
Claude Sonnet
Independent second read
Claude Haiku
Differences settled
The two reads agreed on every checked field. Claude Opus 5.5.
Headline
Claude Sonnet, from the checked study record. A script checked its numbers and wording.
Numbers
Checked against the abstract by a script
“How much this study counts”
Fixed rules, the same for every study
Source check by a person
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