Eating deep-fried food raises risk of prostate cancer

Regular consumption of deep-fried foods such as french fries, fried chicken and doughnuts is associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer, according to a new study.

The effect appears to be slightly stronger with regard to more aggressive forms of the disease, found investigators at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in US.

While previous studies have suggested that eating foods made with high-heat cooking methods, such as grilled meats, may increase the risk of prostate cancer, this is the first study to examine the addition of deep frying to the equation.

Researchers found that men who reported eating French fries, fried chicken, fried fish and/or doughnuts at least once a week were at an increased risk of prostate cancer as compared to men who said they ate such foods less than once a month.

In particular, men who ate one or more of these foods at least weekly had an increased risk of prostate cancer that ranged from 30 to 37 per cent.

Weekly consumption of these foods was associated also with a slightly greater risk of more aggressive prostate cancer.

“The link between prostate cancer and select deep-fried foods appeared to be limited to the highest level of consumption - defined in our study as more than once a week - which suggests that regular consumption of deep-fried foods confers particular risk for developing prostate cancer,” researcher Janet L Stanford said.

Possible mechanisms behind the increased cancer risk, Stanford hypothesises, include the fact that when oil is heated to temperatures suitable for deep frying, potentially carcinogenic compounds can form in the fried food.