This article examines a new study highlighting why ultra-processed foods are especially harmful to cancer survivors. Italian researchers found that survivors who ate the most processed food increased their risk of dying from cancer by 59%, and their overall risk of death from any cause by 48%, compared to those who ate the least. About a third of these links could be traced back to high levels of inflammatory markers (proteins that signal swelling in the body) and an increased resting heart rate. Professor David Labbé, a cancer research scientist, notes that while these mechanisms are not yet fully understood, the results could be influenced by selection bias, a type of error where the study group may not represent everyone. The full findings were published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.