e-metroherald.ie 13.01.2012 By Jane Kirby Rashers grilled over cancer linkEATING two rashers a day can in- crease the risk of pancreatic cancer by 19 per cent and the risk goes up if a person eats more, experts have said. Eating 50g of processed meat every day the equivalent to one sausage or two rashers of bacon increases the risk by 19 per cent compared to people who do not eat processed meat at all. For people consuming double this amount of processed meat (100g), the increased risk jumps to 38 per cent, and is 57 per cent for those eating 150g a day. But experts cautioned that the over- all risk of pancreatic cancer was rela- tively low the lifetime risk of devel- oping the disease is about one in 77 for men and one in 79 for women. Nevertheless, the disease is deadly it is frequently diagnosed at an ad- vanced stage and kills 80 per cent of sufferers in under a year. The latest study, published in the British Journal of Cancer, is from researchers at the respected Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. They examined data from 11 studies, in- cluding 6,643 cases of pancreatic cancer. Mean streak: Processed meat in line of fire They found inconclusive evidence on the risks of eating red meat overall compared to eating no red meat. They found a 29 per cent increase in pancreatic cancer risk for men eating 120g per day of red meat but no in- creased risk among women. This may be because men in the study tended to eat more red meat than women. They concluded: Findings from this meta-analysis indicate that processed meat consumption is positively asso- ciated with pancreatic cancer risk. Further prospective studies are needed to confirm these findings. Overall, smoking is thought to ac- count for about one third of all cases of pancreatic cancer, and smokers have a 74 per cent increased risk of de- veloping it compared to non-smokers. Associate Professor Su- sanna Larsson, author of the study, said: Pancreat- ic cancer has poor sur- vival rates. So as well as diagnosing it early, its important to understand what can increase the risk of this disease. 60 Seconds with... Film star Uggie P15 Its discoverer claims this tiny frog, that can perch on the tip of a finger with room to spare, is the worlds smallest vertebrate species. US herpetologist Christopher Austin says that living on the Papua New Guinea rainforest floor, an adult Paedophryne amauensis is an average 7.7mm long. But a rival US scientist is insisting males of a species of deep-sea anglerfish are about 2mm smaller Picture: AP In frog we trust 60 Seconds with... Howya Horse? At the movies P11 index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html