Soft drink and juice consumption and risk of pancreatic cancer: the Singapore Chinese Health Study.
BACKGROUND
Sugar-sweetened carbonated beverages (called soft drinks) and juices, which have a high glycemic load relative to other foods and beverages, have been hypothesized as pancreatic cancer risk factors. However, data thus far are scarce, especially from non-European descent populations. We investigated whether higher consumption of soft drinks and juice increases the risk of pancreatic cancer in Chinese men and women.


METHODS
A prospective cohort analysis was done to examine the association between soft drink and juice consumption and the risk of pancreatic cancer in 60,524 participants of the Singapore Chinese Health Study with up to 14 years of follow-up. Information on consumption of soft drinks, juice, and other dietary items, as well as lifestyle and environmental exposures, was collected through in-person interviews at recruitment. Pancreatic cancer cases and deaths were ascertained by record linkage of the cohort database with records of population-based Singapore Cancer Registry and the Singapore Registry of Births and Deaths.


RESULTS
The first 14 years for the cohort resulted in cumulative 648,387 person-years and 140 incident pancreatic cancer cases. Individuals consuming > or = 2 soft drinks/wk experienced a statistically significant increased risk of pancreatic cancer (hazard ratio, 1.87; 95% confidence interval, 1.10-3.15) compared with individuals who did not consume soft drinks after adjustment for potential confounders. There was no statistically significant association between juice consumption and risk of pancreatic cancer.


CONCLUSIONS
Regular consumption of soft drinks may play an independent role in the development of pancreatic cancer.
Cancer Control Program, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, District of Columbia, USA.
Noel T
NT
Mueller
Andrew
A
Odegaard
Kristin
K
Anderson
Jian-Min
JM
Yuan
Myron
M
Gross
Woon-Puay
WP
Koh
Mark A
MA
Pereira
D001628:Beverages / Q000009:adverse effects; D002253:Carbonated Beverages / Q000009:adverse effects*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D019422:Dietary Sucrose / Q000009:adverse effects; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012846:Singapore / Q000453:epidemiology
D019422:Dietary Sucrose