Aug. 1, 2008 -- It's enough to make your mouth water. The smell of a sizzling steak on the grill on a summer evening, as friends gather around the barbecue.

Then a pesky thought buzzes your brain. Can grilling meat cause cancer-causing chemicals to form?

That substance that forms on meats cooked at high temperatures (such as from grilling, frying, or broiling meat) includes compounds that researchers say are "reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen." The compounds are known as HCAs, or heterocyclic amines. Some research has shown that eating more HCAs increases your risk for several cancers, including colorectal, stomach, lung, pancreas, breast, and prostate cancers.

But researchers at Kansas State University and The Food Science Institute believe marinades may hold the key to healthier grilled meats.

Here's how their study was carried out.

Researchers marinated eye of round steaks for an hour in three different store-bought marinades. The meat was coated on all sides and turned several times. Steaks were then grilled at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for five minutes on each side.

They also tested steaks with no marinade and those with marinade made only with water, vinegar, and soybean oil.