Abstract
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most fatal common cancers affecting both men and women, representing about 3% of all new cancer cases in the United States. In this study, we aimed to investigate the association of pancreatic cancer risk with alcohol consumption as well as folate intake. We performed a case-control study of 384 patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer from May 2004 to December 2009 and 983 primary care healthy controls in a largely white population (>96%). Our findings showed no significant association between risk of pancreatic cancer and either overall alcohol consumption or type of alcohol consumed (drinks/day). Our study showed dietary folate intake had a modest effect size, but was significantly inversely associated with pancreatic cancer (odds ratio (OR) = 0.99, p < 0.0001). The current study supports the hypothesis that pancreatic cancer risk is reduced with higher food-based folate intake.
Highlights
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most fatal common cancers affecting both men and women, and represents about 3% of all new cancer cases in the United States (US) [1]
* Categorization based on median cutpoint. # Categorization based on tertiles. In this case-control study, we found no significant association between alcohol consumption and the risk of pancreatic cancer
Numerous studies [7,9,23,24], which include large cohort and pooled study designs, have indicated an increased risk of pancreatic cancer with heavy alcohol consumption, the current study found no significant trends in risk of pancreatic cancer with increasing frequency of alcohol intake
Summary
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most fatal common cancers affecting both men and women, and represents about 3% of all new cancer cases in the United States (US) [1]. Pancreatic cancer is associated with later age of onset, with the median age at diagnosis being 71 years [1]. In the US for 2016, the estimated incidence is nearly 53,070 with a mortality rate of 79% [1]. Pancreatic cancer is relatively rare, it has the highest fatality rate (90%) among cancers, with a less than 10% five year survival rate in the US [2]. Lack of screening tests, limited knowledge about the cause of pancreatic cancer, and delayed onset of symptoms of the disease tend to contribute to the low survival rate of the cancer [2]. Various studies have indicated that family history of pancreatic cancer, obesity, diabetes, inflammation of the pancreas, alcohol use, and cigarette smoking are associated with the risk of developing pancreatic cancer [3,4]
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