Vegetarians linked to lower risk of five cancers but higher risk for some others, large study finds
Feb 27th 2026
A pooled analysis of roughly 1.8 million people tracked for 16 years found vegetarians had substantially lower risks of five cancer types but higher risks for some others, while vegans and fish or poultry eaters showed mixed associations with specific cancers.
- The analysis pooled data on about 1.8 million people from multiple cohorts and followed them for an average of 16 years with adjustments for factors like BMI and smoking.
- Vegetarians had 21% lower pancreatic, 12% lower prostate, 9% lower breast, 28% lower kidney cancer risks and 31% lower risk of multiple myeloma compared with meat eaters.
- There was no evidence vegetarians had lower bowel cancer risk overall versus meat eaters.
- Vegetarians showed nearly double the risk of oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma compared with meat eaters.
- Vegans had a 40% higher risk of bowel cancer compared with meat eaters, possibly linked to lower average calcium and other nutrient intakes.
- Pescatarians had lower risks of breast, kidney and bowel cancers and poultry eaters had lower prostate cancer risk.
- The study was published in the British Journal of Cancer, funded by the World Cancer Research Fund, and authors say more work is needed to determine whether meat raises risk or vegetarian diets are protective given changing diets and possible nutrient differences.