No association between alcohol consumption and pancreatic cancer even among individuals genetically susceptible to the carcinogenicity of alcohol

Yan-Shen Shan,Chih-Hsing Wu,Ya-Ling Weng,Li-Tzong Chen,Chia-Rung Tsai,Hui-Chin Liu,Chih-Ting Lee,Hsin-En Huang,Hui-Jen Tsai,Yin-Fan Chang,Nai-Jung Chiang,Chia-Jui Yen,Ying-Jui Chao,Han-Chien Yang,Jeffrey S Chang

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-94111-w

Abstract

Inconsistent results have been reported for the association between alcohol use and pancreatic cancer, particularly at low levels of alcohol consumption. Individuals genetically susceptible to the carcinogenic effect of alcohol might have higher pancreatic cancer risk after drinking alcohol. The current study investigated the association between alcohol use and pancreatic cancer with 419 pancreatic cancer cases and 963 controls recruited by a hospital-based case–control study in Taiwan. Gene-environment interaction between alcohol use and polymorphisms of two ethanol-metabolizing genes, ADH1B and ALDH2, on pancreatic risk was evaluated. Our results showed no significant association between alcohol drinking and an increased pancreatic cancer risk, even at high levels of alcohol consumption. Even among those genetically susceptible to the carcinogenic effect of alcohol (carriers of ADH1B*2/*2(fast activity) combined with ALDH2*1/*2(slow activity) or ALDH2*2/*2(almost non-functional)), no significant association between alcohol use and pancreatic cancer was observed. Overall, our results suggested that alcohol drinking is not a significant contributor to the occurrence of pancreatic cancer in Taiwan.

Highlights

Inconsistent results have been reported for the association between alcohol use and pancreatic cancer, at low levels of alcohol consumption
Because the study by Kanda et al has been the only study examining the combined effect of ADH1B and ALDH2 polymorphisms on the association between alcohol drinking and pancreatic cancer with a relatively small case sample size (n = 160), the current study aimed to investigate this topic with 419 pancreatic cancer cases and 963 controls recruited from a hospital in Taiwan, where the prevalence of ALDH2*2 carriers is the highest in the world (~ 50%)
Our results did not support the association between alcohol drinking and an increased pancreatic cancer risk, even at high levels of alcohol consumption

Summary

Introduction

Inconsistent results have been reported for the association between alcohol use and pancreatic cancer, at low levels of alcohol consumption. Our results showed no significant association between alcohol drinking and an increased pancreatic cancer risk, even at high levels of alcohol consumption. Even among those genetically susceptible to the carcinogenic effect of alcohol (carriers of ADH1B*2/*2(fast activity) combined with ALDH2*1/*2(slow activity) or ALDH2*2/*2(almost non-functional)), no significant association between alcohol use and pancreatic cancer was observed. Studies generally did not support a positive association between low to moderate levels of alcohol consumption and pancreatic cancer, East Asians may be more susceptible to the carcinogenic effect of alcohol due to a highly prevalent single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), ALDH2 rs[671]. The ADH1B*3 allele is found mainly among individuals of African descent and the enzyme encoded by the *3 allele has 15% higher activity than the one encoded by the *1 allele[18]

Methods

Results

Conclusion