Pancreatic cancer risk is decreased on a diet high in red meat and saturated fat

This study was published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute 1998 Nov 18;90(22):1710-9

Study title and authors:

Dietary and nutritional factors and pancreatic cancer: a case-control study based on direct interviews.

Silverman DT, Swanson CA, Gridley G, Wacholder S, Greenberg RS, Brown LM, Hayes RB, Swanson GM, Schoenberg JB, Pottern LM, Schwartz AG, Fraumeni JF Jr, Hoover RN.

Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. silvermd@EPNDCE.NCI.NIH.GOV

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9827525

This study investigated the relationship between diet and pancreatic cancer in 436 patients and 2003 general-population control subjects aged 30-79 years.

The study found:

• Those who had the lowest consumption of bread, grains and cereals had an 8% decreased rate of pancreatic cancer compared to those who had the highest consumption of bread, grains and cereals.
• Those who had the lowest consumption of carbohydrates had a 36% decreased rate of pancreatic cancer compared to those who had the highest consumption of carbohydrates.
• Those who ate the most fat had a 34% decreased rate of pancreatic cancer compared to those who ate the least fat.
• Those who ate the most saturated fat had a 28% decreased rate of pancreatic cancer compared to those who ate the least saturated fat.
• Those who ate the most red meat had an 18% decreased rate of pancreatic cancer compared to those who ate the least red meat.

This study shows that diets high in saturated fat and red meat offer protection from pancreatic cancer.