Shock report reveals processed food ingredient is linked to lung cancer

Published on Tuesday 30 December 2008 21:11

AN ingredient in processed foods may promote the growth of lung cancer, a study shows.

Inorganic phosphates are used in a wide range of meat, seafood, cheese and bakery products to preserve flavour and texture. Common consumption levels of the chemicals may fuel lung tumour development in susceptible individuals, researchers say.

Scientists working with mice discovered that high doses of inorganic phosphates stimulate a cancer-promoting biological pathway in the lungs. At the same time the activity of anti-cancer genes is reduced.

Lung cancer is the main cause of cancer deaths in the world and affects 38,500 people a year in the UK, killing 34,000, more than a fifth of all those who die from cancer. Although smoking is known to cause 90 per cent of lung cancers, only about 8 per cent of smokers develop the disease.

Dr Myung-Haing Cho, from Seoul National University in South Korea, who led the research, said: "Our results clearly demonstrated that the diet higher in inorganic phosphates caused an increase in the size of the tumours and stimulated the growth of the tumours."