A landmark study released this week by the prestigious World Cancer Research Fund has found a “convincing” link between consumption of red and all processed meats and an elevated risk of colon cancer, as well as a “likely” link with cancers of the lung, stomach, pancreas, esophagus, prostate, and uterus.

The study was based on 7,000 diet and health reports selected from a worldwide pool of 500,000 spanning the past five decades. (For more details, visit www.dietandcancerreport.org.)

Since 1992, the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), involving 521,483 individuals in 10 European countries, has published dozens of reports linking meat consumption with increased risk of cancers of the stomach, liver, kidneys, pancreas, gallbladder, colon, rectum, esophagus, lungs, breast, uterus, cervix, ovaries, prostate, and testicles.

Hundreds of other studies have found a correlation between meat consumption and some form of cancer.

None have ever found an inverse relationship.

Like heart disease and other chronic illnesses, cancer is a largely self-inflicted condition.

The American Cancer Society estimates that 62 percent of all cancer deaths could be prevented by quitting tobacco and meat products, as well as by regular screenings and exercise.

We've spent billions of dollars in search of a silver bullet to vanquish this dreaded disease, but we've had it all along.

It's the will to improve our diet and lifestyle.

Abram Cowald

Auburn