Soft Drink Consumption May Increase Risk of Pancreatic Cancer
Pancreatic cancer: is a malignant neoplasm (a class of diseases in which a group of cells display uncontrolled growth) of the pancreas. Most patients with pancreatic cancer experience pain, weight loss, or jaundice. The pain is usually felt in the upper abdomen as a dull ache that radiates straight through to the back. Patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer typically have a poor prognosis. This is because in the initial stages the cancer usually shows no symptoms. By the time the symptoms appear the cancer is in an advanced stage. Median survival from diagnosis is around 3 to 6 months; 5-year survival is less than 5%.
Soft Drink Consumption May Increase Risk of Pancreatic Cancer
According to scientists from the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota, consuming two or more soft drinks per week increased the risk of developing pancreatic cancer by nearly twofold compared to individuals who did not consume soft drinks.
Mark Pereira, Ph.D., senior author on the study and associate professor said, “The high levels of sugar in soft drinks may be increasing the level of insulin in the body, which we think contributes to pancreatic cancer cell growth.”
For the current study, Pereira and colleagues followed 60,524 men and women in the Singapore Chinese Health Study for 14 years. During that time, there were 140 pancreatic cancer cases. Those who consumed two or more soft drinks per week (averaging five per week) had an 87 percent increased risk compared with individuals who did not.
But Susan Mayne, Ph.D., associate director of the Yale Cancer Center and professor of epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health, has certain reservations about the results of this study by Pereira and colleagues. She said, “Although this study found a risk, the finding was based on a relatively small number of cases and it remains unclear whether it is a causal association or not. Soft drink consumption in Singapore was associated with several other adverse health behaviors such as smoking and red meat intake, which we can’t accurately control for.”
Pereira points out that the findings are biologically plausible, held up in non-smokers, remained similar after taking other dietary habits into account and are consistent with findings in Caucasian populations.
Source: http://www.aacr.org/home/public–media/aacr-press-releases.aspx?d=1745
February 8, 2010