Diet and pancreatic cancer: a case-control study

In a population-based case-control study carried out in Sweden in 1982-1984, the authors examined the association of pancreatic cancer with several dietary factors, coffee, alcohol, and tobacco. Analyses were based on 99 cases, 138 population controls, and 163 hospital controls. The cases were persons aged 40-79 years diagnosed with cancer of the exocrine pancreas at three surgical departments in Stockholm and Uppsala. The risk increased with higher consumption frequency of fried and grilled meat in the comparison with each series of controls (e.g., relative risk (RR) = 1.7 (90% confidence interval (CI) = 1.1-2.7) for weekly intake and RR = 13.4 (90% CI = 2.4-74.7) for almost daily intake, in the comparison with population controls). Furthermore, associations were found with other fried or grilled foods, but not with meat other than fried or grilled. The risk also increased with the intake of margarine (e.g., RR = 9.7 (90% CI = 3.1-30.2) for 15+ g of margarine on a slice of bread, in the comparison with population controls). In contrast, no excess risk was associated with high intake of butter. A low risk was associated with frequent consumption of fruits and vegetables, particularly carrots (RR = 0.3 (90% CI = 0.2-0.7)) and citrus fruits (RR = 0.5 (90% CI = 0.3-0.9)) for almost daily intake. No consistent associations were found with coffee, artificial sweeteners or alcohol consumption, but a threefold increase in risk was associated with smoking at least one pack of cigarettes per day.