Cancer is a disease caused by a group of cells that multiply without control and autonomously, invading various tissues locally and remotely. The agents that cause the development of cancer are divided into three categories: chemical compounds, radiation, oncogenic viruses and microorganisms. According to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the World Health Organization (WHO), cancer is one of the main diseases in the region of the Americas, being the second cause of death. This systematic review aimed to identify and analyze the relationship that exists between the consumption of red and processed meats and the appearance of cancer in the organism of human beings, evidencing in the different detailed studies that there are five cancer promoters as components in the meat that specifically promote changes that harm the public health. The review consisted of generating a search in various databases (Ncbi, PubMed, Science Direct and MinSalud) where 80 articles of interest were found, of which dozens of them were discarded taking concepts such as: Meat, cancer, pathophysiology, nutrition, cattle, promoters, and carcinogenic diseases. Although these tools can be very useful for the association of cancer and the consumption of red and processed meats, it is still necessary to carry out epidemiological studies that provide information on nutrition in vegetarian or vegan populations to contemplate and certify that the appearance of cancer is linked to the consumption of red and processed meats.