(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Ordering your steak well done could be harmful to your health. A new study finds people who eat meat cooked at high temperatures to the point of burning and charring could be at an increased risk of developing pancreatic cancer.

Those who prefer their meat cooked this way were almost 60 percent as likely to get pancreatic cancer than those who ate steak less well done or did not eat steak at all.  When researchers estimated the meat-derived carcinogen intake using overall consumption and doneness preferences, those with the highest intake had 70 percent higher risk than those with the lowest risk.

The link was associated with people who consumed well and very well done meats cooked by frying, grilling or barbecuing. These cooking methods form carcinogens, which do not form when meat is baked or stewed.

Researchers suggested people who like to eat fried or barbecued meat should consider turning down the heat or cutting off burned portions when it's finished.

"The precursors of cancer-causing compounds can be reduced by microwaving the meat for a few minutes and pouring off the juices before cooking it on the grill," author Kristin Anderson, Ph.D., an associate professor at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health was quoted as saying.

Anderson said she is focused on studying pancreatic cancer because treatments are very limited and the cancer is often rapidly fatal.

SOURCE: Study presented at the American Association for Cancer Research 100th Annual Meeting

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