Genetic variability in energy balance and pancreatic cancer risk in a population-based case-control study in...

Accumulating evidence suggests that energy imbalance plays a role in pancreatic carcinogenesis. However, it remains unclear whether single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes regulating energy homeostasis influence pancreatic cancer risk. We investigated this question in a case-control study conducted from 1994 to 1998.

Patients (n = 173) were ascertained from hospitals in the Twin Cities and Mayo Clinic, Minnesota. Control subjects (n = 476) were identified from the general population and frequency matched to patients by age and sex. Seven SNPs were evaluated in relation to pancreatic cancer using unconditional logistic regression.

After adjustment for confounders, the leucine/proline or proline/proline genotype of the neuropeptide Y (NPY) gene rs16139 was associated with a lower risk than the leucine/leucine genotype (odds ratio, 0.40 [95% confidence interval, 0.15-0.91]). Conversely, an increased risk was observed for the glycine/arginine or arginine/arginine genotype of the adrenoceptor β2, surface (ADRB2) gene rs1042713 as compared with the glycine/glycine genotype (odds ratio, 1.52 [95% confidence interval, 1.01-2.31]).

This study first reveals that SNPs in genes modulating energy intake (NPY) and energy expenditure (ADRB2) altered pancreatic cancer risk. If confirmed by other studies, our findings may shed new light on the etiology and prevention of pancreatic cancer.