Dietary fat increased risk for pancreatic cancer

Elevated intake of fat of animal origin, particularly red meat and dairy, was associated with increased risk for pancreatic cancer, according to the findings from a prospective study.

The study included 308,736 men and 216,737 women aged 50 to 71 from the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study.

Participants completed a 124-item food frequency questionnaire during 1995 to 1996. During that time, the incident rate for exocrine pancreatic cancer was 45.0 per 100,000 person-years for men and 34.5 per 100,000 person-years for women.

“Men in the highest quintile of fat consumption had a 53% higher incidence of pancreatic cancer than men in the lowest quintile and women in the highest quintile had a 23% higher incidence of pancreatic cancer than women in the lowest quintile,” researchers said.

After adjustment, men and women in the highest quintile of percent energy from fat had a higher risk for pancreatic cancer linked to total fat consumption (46.8 vs. 33.2 cases per 100,000 person-years; HR=1.23; 95% CI, 1.03-1.46) than those in the lowest quintile.

Similar associations were observed with saturated fat consumption (51.5 vs. 33.1; HR=1.36; 95% CI, 1.14-1.62) and monounsaturated fat consumption (46.2 vs. 32.9; HR=1.22; 95% CI, 1.02-1.46). No association was observed with polyunsaturated fat.

Overall, there was a 1.43 HR for the association between saturated fat intake of animal origin and pancreatic cancer risk (95% CI, 1.20-1.70). Pancreatic cancer risk was linked to saturated fat intake from red meat (HR=1.27; 95 % CI, 1.07-1.52) and dairy products (HR=1.19; 95% CI, 1.01-1.42).

Thiebaut ACM. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2009;101:1001-1011.