Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. Those in the highest 25% intake of total fiber per day had a 60% reduced risk of pancratic cancer when compared to those in the lowest 25%.
Pancreatic cancer is expected to cause an estimated 44,030 deaths (22,050 men and 21,980 women) in 2011 (1) and cost our healthcare system $881 million (2). Due to pancreatic cancer’s extremely low five-year survival rate (< 5%) (3), prevention is a priority.
Now a new study (6) has suggested fiber may also be a benefit to pancreas health.
In the study, researchers compared 326 patients in Italy with an average age of 63 diagnosed with pancreatic cancer between 1991 and 2008 with 652 patients without pancreatic cancer (7). Patients provided dietary information via a food frequency questionnaire that asked about their intake of 78 different foods, food groups, or dishes, focusing on total fiber intake as well as fruit, vegetable, and grain fiber (8).
The researchers found that those in the highest 25% intake of total fiber per day (>21.8 grams per day) had a 60% reduced risk of pancreatic cancer when compared to those in the lowest 25% of total fiber intake (<10.4 grams per day) (p < 0.001). For fruit fiber, there was a 50% reduced risk for the highest 25% (>10 grams per day) compared to the lowest 25% (<2.4 grams per day) while those with the highest 25% of vegetable fiber intake (>8.3 grams per day) had a 40% reduced risk compared to the lowest 25% (<3.5 grams per day). No reductions in risk were seen from grain fiber intake.
When looking at how fiber is able to promote pancreas health, the researchers point to previous research showing that fiber maximizes the body’s use of insulin and affects certain hormones like insulin-like growth factor that have been linked to pancreatic cancer (9). They went on to conclude that “dietary intake of soluble and insoluble fiber and intake of fiber from fruit and vegetables but not from grain is inversely related to the risk of pancreatic cancer.”
Source: Bidoli, E., et al. “Fiber intake and pancreatic cancer risk: a case–control study.” Annals of oncology 23.1 (2012): 264-268.
© The Author 2011. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society for Medical Oncology
Posted February 20, 2012.
References:
- “SEER Stat Fact Sheets: Pancreas” – posted on the National Cancer Institute SEER website.
- “Pacreatic Cancer” posted on the National Cancer Institute website.
- Brand R, Mahr CO. Risk factors for pancreatic adenocarcinoma: are we ready for screening and surveillance? Curr Gastroenterol Rep 2005;7:122 – 7.
- Bobe G. Flavonoid Intake and Risk of Pancreatic Cancer in Male Smokers (Finland). Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2008 17: 553-562 doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-07-2523.
- Gong Z. Intake of fatty acids and antio xidants and pancreatic cancer in a large populat ion-based case-control study in the San Franci sco Bay Area . Int. J. Cancer: 127 , 1893–1904 (2010).
- Bidoli E. Fiber intake and pancreatic cancer risk: a case–control Study. Ann Oncol 2012; 23(1):264-8.
- Talamini R, Polesel J, Gallus S et al. Tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption and pancreatic cancer risk: a case-control study in Italy. Eur J Cancer 2010; 46:370–376.
- “Soluble vs Insoluble Fiber” – posted on the Medline Plus website.
- Heinen MM, Verhage BA, Lumey L et al. Glycemic load, glycemicindex, and pancreatic cancer risk in the Netherlands Cohort Study. Am J Clin Nutr 2008; 87: 970– 7.
