Metabolic factors and the risk of pancreatic cancer: a prospective analysis of almost 580,000 men and women in the Metabolic Syndrome and Cancer Project.
BACKGROUND
The aim of this study was to investigate the association between factors in metabolic syndrome (MetS; single and combined) and the risk of pancreatic cancer.


METHODS
The Metabolic Syndrome and Cancer Project is a pooled cohort containing data on body mass index, blood pressure, and blood levels of glucose, cholesterol, and triglycerides. During follow-up, 862 individuals were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Cox proportional hazards analysis was used to calculate relative risks (RR) with 95% confidence intervals using the above-mentioned factors categorized into quintiles and transformed into z-scores. All z-scores were summarized and a second z-transformation creating a composite z-score for MetS was done. All risk estimates were calibrated to correct for a regression dilution bias.


RESULTS
The trend over quintiles was positively associated with the risk of pancreatic cancer for mid-blood pressure (mid-BP) and glucose in men and for body mass index, mid-BP, and glucose in women. The z-score for the adjusted mid-BP (RR, 1.10; 1.01-1.20) and the calibrated z-score for glucose (RR, 1.37; 1.14-1.34) were positively associated with pancreatic cancer in men. In women, a positive association was found for calibrated z-scores for mid-BP (RR, 1.34; 1.08-1.66), for the calibrated z-score for glucose (RR, 1.98; 1.41-2.76), and for the composite z-score for MetS (RR, 1.58; 1.34-1.87).


CONCLUSIONS
Our study adds further evidence to a possible link between abnormal glucose metabolism and risk of pancreatic cancer.


CONCLUSIONS
To our knowledge, this is the first study on MetS and pancreatic cancer using prediagnostic measurements of the examined factors.
Johansen
Dorthe
D
Department of Surgery, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden. dorthe.johansen@med.lu.se
Stocks
Tanja
T
Jonsson
Håkan
H
Lindkvist
Björn
B
Björge
Tone
T
Concin
Hans
H
Almquist
Martin
M
Häggström
Christel
C
Engeland
Anders
A
Ulmer
Hanno
H
Hallmans
Göran
G
Selmer
Randi
R
Nagel
Gabriele
G
Tretli
Steinar
S
Stattin
Pär
P
Manjer
Jonas
J
D000328:Adult; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D015992:Body Mass Index; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors
D001786:Blood Glucose