Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Increasing dietary antioxidant intake could cut pancreatic cancer risk

According to a new study published in Gut, more than 250,000 people die from pancreatic cancer each year around the world and only 3% - 5% of the patients survive beyond 5 years. It is difficult to detect and often not diagnosed until it is advanced. Smoking and type 2 diabetes are major risk factors, the researchers thought diet may have an impact in the incidence of the cancer.

The researchers examined data from the Norfolk arm of the European Prospective Investiagtion of Cancer (EPIC) study investigating the lifestyle and dietary factors associated with pancreatic cancer, including more than 23,600 participants aged  40 - 74 between 1993 and 1997. All participants had completed a comprehensive food diary tracking the type of food and amount they ate during a 7 day period, as welll as the methods they used to prepare the food, the nutrient value of each person is calculated. The nutrient intakes of the pancreatic cancer patients were comapred with 4000 healthy individuals to see if there were any difference.

The researchers found that within 10 years entering thte study, 49 developed pancreatic cancer, increased to 86 by 2010. They survived 6 months after diagnosis on average. Those eating a combination of the highest three quartiles of all of vitamins C and E and selenium had a decreased risk of pancreatic cancer. Researchers said the finding is not a chance finding, if the association is causal, 1 in 12 cancers might be prevented by avoiding the lowest intakes, but they point out that the study cannot show it is causal link therefore the need for studies in other populations.  

Critics say it is important to note that the study only found a correlation with pancreatic cancer risk in people taking very low levels of these antioxidants. High levels of intake was not better than moderate levels of consumption. Too high levels of intake of these supplements and other vitamins and minerals are associated with different types of danger, people should seek advice before making changes to food or dietary supplement intake.

Source: Dietary antioxidants and the aetiology of pancreatic cancer: a cohort study using data from food diaries and biomarkers. Gut  2012, doi:10.1136/gutjnl-2011-301908    Full text via Athens.









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