News Release

Could additives in hot dogs affect incidence of colon cancer?

Peer-Reviewed Publication

American Association for Cancer Research

BOSTON — The addition of ascorbate (vitamin C) or its close relative, erythorbate, and the reduced amount of nitrite added in hot dogs, mandated in 1978, have been accompanied by a steep drop in the death rate from colon cancer, according to data presented at the 10th AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research, held Oct. 22-25, 2011.

However, the incidence rate for colon cancer has apparently not changed much since 1978, according to 2011 data from the SEER Cancer Statistics Review from the National Cancer Institute.

"It was proposed that N-nitroso compounds in hot dogs and other processed meats can cause colon cancer," said Sidney S. Mirvish, Ph.D., professor emeritus at the Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and Allied Diseases at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. "We found that the level of total apparent N-nitroso compounds in hot dog links prepared in our laboratory fell as increasing levels of sodium erythorbate were included in the hot dog links."

Mirvish and colleagues discussed the view that colon cancer was induced by components of the apparent nonvolatile N-nitroso compounds that occur in processed (nitrite-preserved) meat. Hence, Mirvish and colleagues investigated the effect of varying the erythorbate level on the N-nitroso compound content of hot dogs.

They found that the current level of erythorbate (500 milligrams per kilogram) added to hot dogs reduces the N-nitroso compounds to 2 nanomoles per gram compared with 180 nanomoles per gram when erythorbate was not used.

"When erythorbate was not added, 80 percent of the apparent N-nitroso compounds were found to be due to nitrosothiols, which are probably harmless, still leaving 40 nanomoles per gram that were attributed to possibly carcinogenic N-nitroso compounds," Mirvish said.

If the level of N-nitroso compounds was an important cause of colon cancer, "the drop in N-nitroso compound content caused by the mandated changes in processed meat should have been accompanied by a drop in the incidence of colon cancer," Mirvish said.

In fact, since the mandated changes were introduced 33 years ago, the death rate for colon cancer has dropped sharply. "This may have been due mostly to earlier detection and better treatment of this disease," Mirvish said.

Mirvish concluded that the role of hot dog-derived N-nitroso compounds in the causation of colon cancer remains unclear.

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The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, the AACR is the world's oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes 33,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 90 other countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants, research fellowships and career development awards to young investigators, and it also funds cutting-edge research projects conducted by senior researchers. The AACR has numerous fruitful collaborations with organizations and foundations in the U.S. and abroad, and functions as the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, a charitable initiative that supports groundbreaking research aimed at getting new cancer treatments to patients in an accelerated time frame. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 17,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special Conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment and patient care, and Educational Workshops are held for the training of young cancer investigators. The AACR publishes seven major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Discovery; Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; and Cancer Prevention Research. In 2010, AACR journals received 20 percent of the total number of citations given to oncology journals. The AACR also publishes Cancer Today, a magazine for cancer patients, survivors and their caregivers, which provides practical knowledge and new hope for cancer survivors. A major goal of the AACR is to educate the general public and policymakers about the value of cancer research in improving public health, the vital importance of increases in sustained funding for cancer research and biomedical science, and the need for national policies that foster innovation and the acceleration of progress against the 200 diseases we call cancer.


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