Meat and fat intake and pancreatic cancer risk in the Netherlands Cohort Study

Abstract

Meat contains numerous carcinogens, such as heterocyclic amines, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and N-nitroso compounds, which can be derived either from natural food or during the process of food preparation. These carcinogens may increase pancreatic cancer risk. Furthermore, studies in animals showed that polyunsaturated fatty acids, especially linoleic acid, increase pancreatic cancer risk. We examined prospectively the relation between pancreatic cancer risk and intake of fresh meat, processed meat, fish, eggs, total fat, and different types of fat. The Netherlands Cohort Study consisted of 120,852 men and women who completed a baseline questionnaire in 1986. After 13.3 years of follow-up, 350 pancreatic cancer cases (66% microscopically confirmed) were available for analysis. A validated 150-item foodfrequency questionnaire was used to calculate intake of fresh meat, processed meat, fish, eggs, fat and different types of fat. No association was found when examining the association between intake of fresh meat, other types of meat, fish, eggs, dietary intake of total fat and different types of fat and risk of pancreatic cancer. It is important for future studies to investigate the relation between different meat-cooking methods and pancreatic cancer. ' UICCKey words: pancreatic cancer; meat; dietary fat; cohort study; microscopic confirmation Pancreatic cancer is among the most rapidly fatal cancers worldwide, with a 5-year survival rate of 6% or less.1,2 Since there is no effective way to screen for this malignancy, prevention could have a major impact on pancreatic cancer mortality. So far, cigarette smoking, diabetes mellitus, and body fatness are identified as risk factors. 3-5Based on ecological studies, international variation in incidence rates of pancreatic cancer suggested that per capita intakes of animal protein, fat, and eggs were positively related to this type of cancer.6,7 Since then, numerous epidemiological studies have investigated the relation between meat, eggs, and different types of fat and pancreatic cancer, including 15 prospective cohort studies 3,6,[8][9][10][11][12] and 31 case-control studies. 3,6,[13][14][15][16][17][18][19] In a recent Expert Panel Report, it was concluded that there is limited evidence suggesting that red meat is a cause of pancreatic cancer in humans.3 Data on processed meat, chicken, fish, eggs, dietary fat, and specific fatty acids were either of too low quality, too inconsistent, or the number of studies too few to allow conclusions to be reached.Meat contains numerous carcinogens, such as heterocyclic amines (HCAs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and N-nitroso compounds, which can be derived either from natural food or during the process of food preparation. These carcinogens may increase pancreatic cancer risk. 3,20,21 Regarding dietary fat, studies in animals showed that diets high in fat increased the risk of pancreatic cancer compared to low-fat diets, 22 and suggested that polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), especially linoleic acid (LA...

Fish, n–3 PUFA consumption, and pancreatic cancer risk in Japanese: a large, population-based, prospective cohort study

“…Previous studies in Western countries reported that consumption was not associated with the risk of or death from pancreatic cancer (20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27). In addition, one Japanese prospective study that examined the association of fish consumption only also reported no association (28).…”

Selective transport of long-chain fatty acids by FAT/CD36 in skeletal muscle of broilers

“…The optimum intramuscular fat content and the fatty acid (FA) composition of muscle greatly contribute to certain aspects of meat quality, such as marbling, juiciness and flavor (Chizzolini et al, 1999;Cameron et al, 2000). For example, polyunsaturated FAs (PUFA) have been reported to decrease the plasma cholesterol, whereas saturated FA (SFA) seem to increase it, which may be related to the potential health risks of obesity and other metabolic disturbance (Monteiro et al, 2006;De Luis et al, 2009;Heinen et al, 2009). Therefore, the regulation of FA composition has been a research focus of improving meat quality.…”

Environmental Risk Factors for Chronic Pancreatitis and Pancreatic Cancer

“…A cohort study from the Netherlands, on the other hand, could not show any correlation between the intake of fresh meat, other types of meat, fish, eggs, total fat intake or different types of fat and risk of pancreatic cancer [72]. Another European prospective cohort study including 520,000 individuals and 555 pancreatic cancer cases [73] also found no association between nutritional habits and pancreatic cancer.…”