A recent study showed that consumption of red meat and milk products increases risk of cancerous tumors. This study revealed that a molecule produced after consumption of these foods induces inflammation that boosts the cancer risk.

Ajit Varki and his fellow researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine found that Neu5Gc is a type of glycan, a sugary compound, which is not naturally present in human bodies, but this molecule gets into human tissues as a result of eating red meat. When it gets into human tissues, the body develops anti-Neu5Gc antibodies, an immune response that could lead to chronic inflammation and boost cancer growth.

For the study, researchers induced tumors containing Neu5Gc in mice then administered ant-Neu5Gc antibodies to one group of mice and left other group of mice untreated.

The study revealed that the mice treated with antibodies, which is equivalent to being treated with ingested red meat and milk, inflammation was induced and the tumors grew faster compared to mice that were untreated. However in untreated mice, the tumors were not so aggressive. The researchers also observed the mice treated with anti-Neu5Gc antibodies and then treated with an NSAID had their tumors reduced in size.

Nissi M. Varki, M. D., UCSD professor of pathology said, "Taken together, our data indicate that chronic inflammation results from interaction of Neu5Gc accumulated in our bodies from eating red meat with the antibodies that circulate as an immune response to this non-human molecule - and this may contribute to cancer risk."