Gallstones, cholecystectomy, and the risk for developing pancreatic cancer.
We examined the relation between gallstones, cholecystectomy, and the development of pancreatic cancer in the Nurses' Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. Among 104,856 women and 48,928 men without cancer at baseline, we documented 349 cases of pancreatic cancer during up to 16 years of follow-up. Participants were classified according to a history of gallstones or cholecystectomy. The age-adjusted relative risk of pancreatic cancer following cholecystectomy or diagnosis of gallstones was 1.31 (95% CI, 0.93-1.83). However, adjustment for other pancreatic cancer risk factors attenuated the association (RR=1.11, 95% CI, 0.78-1.56); this risk did not increase with increasing time following cholecystectomy or gallstones. Gallstones or cholecystectomy do not appear to be significant risk factors for pancreatic cancer.
Schernhammer
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ES
Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA. eva.schernhammer@channing.harvard.edu
Michaud
D S
DS
Leitzmann
M F
MF
Giovannucci
E
E
Colditz
G A
GA
Fuchs
C S
CS
D000328:Adult; D002763:Cholecystectomy; D002769:Cholelithiasis / Q000150:complications*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D012307:Risk Factors