Prospective study of the association of ultra-processed food consumption, cancer risk, and cancer mortality

Global dietary patterns are increasingly dominated by relatively cheap, highly palatable, and ready-to-eat ultra-processed foods (UPFs). A prospective study in the cohort of the UK Biobank (n=197,426; 54,6% women; median follow-up 9.8 years) found that every 10% increment in UPF consumption was associated with increased incidence of overall (HR 1.02; 95% CI 1.01-1.04) and specifically ovarian (1.19; 1.08-1.30) cancer, and with increased risk of overall (1.06; 1.03-1.09), ovarian (1.30; 1.13-1.50), and breast (1.16;1.02-1.32) cancer-related mortality.