Fish may protect against colorectal cancer

People who regularly eat fish are less likely to develop colorectal cancer, reveals new data out today from the biggest ever investigation into diet's impact on cancer incidence.

The new study, based on data from around half a million participants in the EPIC trial, also confirmed that red meat consumption significantly raises the risk of this cancer, while fibre protects against it.

The findings are reported in today’s issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (vol 97, no 12).

In contrast, eating 100 grams of fish daily reduces the disease risk by half. People eating less than 14g of fish a day were 40 per cent more likely to develop the cancer than those eating more than 50g per day, the researchers report.