Clinical trial · Interventional
Meat-based Versus Pesco-vegetarian Diet and Colorectal Cancer
Faecal Microbiome as Determinant of the Effect of Diet on Colorectal-cancer Risk: Comparison of Meat Based Versus Pesco-vegetarian Diets (MeaTIc)
- Source
- ClinicalTrials.gov
- Retrieved
- Sep 8, 2026
- Layer
- normalized (units and labels harmonized; values unchanged)
- Run
- ING-CLINICALTRIALS-20260908-000001
Summary
Brief summary (as posted)
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is strongly affected by diet, with red and processed meat increasing risk. To understand the role of microbiome in this phenomenon and to identify specific microbiome/metabolomics profiles associated with CRC risk, will be studied: 1) healthy volunteers fed for 3 months with: a high-CRC risk diet (meat-based MBD), a normalized CRC risk diet (MBD plus alpha-tocopherol, MBD-T), a low-CRC risk diet (pesco-vegetarian, PVD). At the beginning and at the end of the intervention, gut microbiome profiles (metagenomics and metabolomics), and CRC biomarkers (genotoxicity, cytotoxicity, peroxidation in faecal water; lipid/glycemic indexes, inflammatory cytokines, oxidative stress), 2) Colon carcinogenesis: the same diets will be fed (3 months) to carcinogen-induced rats or to Pirc rats, mutated in Apc, the key gene in CRC; faecal microbiome profiles, will be correlated to carcinogenesis measuring preneoplastic lesions, colon tumours, and faecal and blood CRC biomarkers as in humans; 3) To further elucidate the mechanisms underlying the effect of different microbiomes in determining CRC risk, faeces from rats fed the experimental diets will be transplanted into carcinogen-induced germ-free rats, measuring how microbiome changes correlate with metabolome and disease outcomes. The results will provide fundamental insight in the role of microbiome in determining the effect of the diet, in particular red/processed meat intake, on CRC risk
Conditions
Conditions (3)
Free-text conditions as registered, with the CancerIndex entity they were reconciled to and the match type.
| Condition (as posted) | Mapped entity | Match | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cancer of Colon | Malignant Colon Neoplasm | ALIAS | 0.90 |
| Diet Modification | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Nutrition Aspect of Cancer | Colon Neoplasm | PROBABILISTIC | 0.70 |
Interventions
Interventions (3)
| Intervention | Type | Mapped drug | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meat-based diet | Behavioral | — | UNRESOLVED |
| Meat-based diet supplemented with alpha-tocopherol (MBD-T) | Dietary Supplement | — | UNRESOLVED |
| Pesco-vegetarian diet | Behavioral | — | UNRESOLVED |
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (3)
- type
- ACTIVE_COMPARATOR
- label
- Meat-based diet (MBD)
- description
- Behavioral intervention with diet including 4 servings per week of red meat, 3 servings per week of processed meat, and 1 servings per week of poultry, for a total amount of 900 g per week of meat.
- interventionNames
- Behavioral: Meat-based diet
- type
- EXPERIMENTAL
- label
- Meat-based alpha-tocopherol (MBD-T)
- description
- Behavioral intervention including diet with 4 servings per week of red meat, 3 servings per week of processed meat, and 1 servings per week of poultry, for a total amount of 900 g per week of meat with a dietary supplement of 100 mg/day of alpha-tocopherol in the form of tablet
- interventionNames
- Dietary Supplement: Meat-based diet supplemented with alpha-tocopherol (MBD-T)
- type
- EXPERIMENTAL
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- All
- Minimum age
- 18 Years
- Maximum age
- 50 Years
Show eligibility criteria text
Inclusion Criteria: * clinically healthy (both sexes) * age \>18 years and ≤ 50 years. The study population will be selected with an age ranging from 18 to 50 years because after 50 years the risk for CRC shows a significant increase in incidence. In fact, more than 90% of the people diagnosed with the disease are older than 50, with the average age at the time of diagnosis being 64 (Amersi et al., 2005). With respect to gender, its role in the development of colorectal cancer remains unclear (Amersi et al., 2005). Exclusion Criteria: * Presence of current illness or unstable conditions * Current or recent (past 2 months) use of antibiotics or probiotics * Pregnancy or intention to become pregnant in the next 12 months or lactation * Current smoking habit * Current or recent (past 2 months) adoption of a vegetarian diet
References
Publications (12)
- BACKGROUNDFemia AP, Luceri C, Soares PV, Lodovici M, Caderni G. Multiple mucin depleted foci, high proliferation and low apoptotic response in the onset of colon carcinogenesis of the PIRC rat, mutated in Apc. Int J Cancer. 2015 Mar 15;136(6):E488-95. doi: 10.1002/ijc.29232. Epub 2014 Oct 6. PMID 25257656
- BACKGROUNDBastide NM, Naud N, Nassy G, Vendeuvre JL, Tache S, Gueraud F, Hobbs DA, Kuhnle GG, Corpet DE, Pierre FH. Red Wine and Pomegranate Extracts Suppress Cured Meat Promotion of Colonic Mucin-Depleted Foci in Carcinogen-Induced Rats. Nutr Cancer. 2017 Feb-Mar;69(2):289-298. doi: 10.1080/01635581.2017.1263745. Epub 2017 Jan 17. PMID 28094544
- BACKGROUNDCaderni G, Femia AP, Giannini A, Favuzza A, Luceri C, Salvadori M, Dolara P. Identification of mucin-depleted foci in the unsectioned colon of azoxymethane-treated rats: correlation with carcinogenesis. Cancer Res. 2003 May 15;63(10):2388-92. PMID 12750256
- BACKGROUNDIrrazabal T, Belcheva A, Girardin SE, Martin A, Philpott DJ. The multifaceted role of the intestinal microbiota in colon cancer. Mol Cell. 2014 Apr 24;54(2):309-20. doi: 10.1016/j.molcel.2014.03.039. PMID 24766895
- BACKGROUNDPierre F, Peiro G, Tache S, Cross AJ, Bingham SA, Gasc N, Gottardi G, Corpet DE, Gueraud F. New marker of colon cancer risk associated with heme intake: 1,4-dihydroxynonane mercapturic acid. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2006 Nov;15(11):2274-9. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-06-0085. PMID 17119057
- BACKGROUNDGueraud F, Tache S, Steghens JP, Milkovic L, Borovic-Sunjic S, Zarkovic N, Gaultier E, Naud N, Helies-Toussaint C, Pierre F, Priymenko N. Dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids and heme iron induce oxidative stress biomarkers and a cancer promoting environment in the colon of rats. Free Radic Biol Med. 2015 Jun;83:192-200. doi: 10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2015.02.023. Epub 2015 Mar 3. PMID 25744414