Dietary fat and pancreatic cancer risk

Large amounts of saturated and mono-unsaturated fats in the diet can make you fat, and may also increase the risk of pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic cancer is a disease in which cancer cells are found in the tissues of the pancreas. Diets low in vegetables and fruits and high in red meat are known to contribute to the development of pancreatic cancer.

To find the association between intake of fat, fat subtypes and fat food sources and pancreatic cancer, researchers from America analysed the data from National Institute of Health – AARP diet and healthy study, which included 3,08,736 men and 2,16,737 women. The participants completed a 124-item food frequency questionnaire.

During an average follow-up period of 6 years, 865 men and 472 women developed pancreatic cancer.

The researchers found that consumption of red meat and dairy products increased the odds of pancreatic cancer by 27 percent and 19 percent, respectively. Saturated fats from animal food sources had the strongest association with pancreatic cancer, increasing the cancer risk by 43 percent.

The researchers concluded that the consumption of total fat, saturated fat, and monounsaturated fat were all significantly linked to pancreatic cancer, but polyunsaturated fat, by contrast, did not increase the risk.