Live data from Hacker News

Bovine meat and milk protein in tumor‐free mucosa of colorectal cancer patients

febs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

31–36 of 36 posts

Re: Bovine meat and milk protein in tumor‐free mucosa of colorectal cancer patients

#31
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could there be a significant difference in soil composition between South America and Europe, leading to different health outcomes? If you travel through Europe and South America at similar +/- latitudes, the countryside is completely different. Similarly US vs Europe at the same latitude.

It would be helpful to look at import/export flows. I suspect that quite a large percentage of European beef consumption isn't locally sourced, with likely quite a bit coming from S. America.

If you know specific countries or trade blocs, you can look it up here.

https://oec.world/en/profile/international_organization/euro...

Re: Bovine meat and milk protein in tumor‐free mucosa of colorectal cancer patients

#33
post #16

could someone please ELI5? lots of conflicting terms here and i’m not sure what to take away.

There is the same molecule, found in bovine milk/meat and in the mucosa of colon cancer patients. The study aims to find the correlation between these molecules and colon cancer in humans. The authors suggested there is a causal link between consumption of bovine products and colon cancer but other studies are not conclusive about these matters.

Re: Bovine meat and milk protein in tumor‐free mucosa of colorectal cancer patients

#34
post #16

could someone please ELI5? lots of conflicting terms here and i’m not sure what to take away.

There is the same molecule, found in bovine milk/meat and in the mucosa of colon cancer patients. The study aims to find the correlation between these molecules and colon cancer in humans. The authors suggested there is a causal link between consumption of bovine products and colon cancer but other studies are not conclusive about these matters.

thank you, very helpful!

Re: Bovine meat and milk protein in tumor‐free mucosa of colorectal cancer patients

#35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lack of fiber is already a known factor in colorectal cancer, isn't it?

Is it? I heard that was pop science.

No that's poop science! On a serious note though, seems still undecided but leaning more heavily towards no protective effects.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6357054/

Re: Bovine meat and milk protein in tumor‐free mucosa of colorectal cancer patients

#36
post #7

Does this square epidemiologically with beef consumption? The countries with the highest beef consumption are in South America (and it's sharply more beef consumption); the countries with the highest colon cancer rates are in central and northern Europe. It doesn't follow from a correlation that beef is by itself causative; it can be, for instance, beef plus some other X-factor. Somebody is going to point out that So…

Well, the study was not an RCT, so the authors by necessity argue for the presence of an association, but are technically not claiming a casual relationship (even if the wording does a heavy 'wink wink' at the reader). That, and apparently the findings were not statistically significant.

However, even if there is an association, and it is "causal", given this is not an experimental study, the relationship could well indicate a reverse causal link.

E.g., patients with a higher likelihood of developing colorectal carcinoma may be predisposed to increasing their beef / milk consumption, which then shows in non-tumour tissues. In this light, the association might even demonstrate a protective effect against cancer (or at least its early symptoms).

One can easily find a biologically plausible explanation for this too. One of the early signs of cancer is loss of weight / appetite. It would make sense that people might instinctively turn to more 'umami/flavourful', low-carb/protein-high diets, to stimulate their appetite and combat the weight loss; particularly in terms of muscle mass.

This kind of explanation might also align with your observation on cancer rates in Europe vs South America. (assuming detection rates are similar in the first place).

Post reply on HN