title: Cholecystectomy, gallstones, tonsillectomy, and pancreatic cancer risk: a population-based case-control study in Minnesota.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Associations between medical conditions and pancreatic cancer risk are controversial and are thus evaluated in a study conducted during 1994-1998 in Minnesota.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cases (n=215) were ascertained from hospitals in the metropolitan area of the Twin Cities and the Mayo Clinic. Controls (n=676) were randomly selected from the general population and frequency matched to cases by age and sex. The history of medical conditions was gathered with a questionnaire during in-person interviews. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were estimated using unconditional logistic regression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After adjustment for confounders, subjects who had cholecystectomy or gallstones experienced a significantly higher risk of pancreatic cancer than those who did not (OR (95% CI): 2.11 (1.32-3.35) for cholecystectomy and 1.97 (1.23-3.12) for gallstones), whereas opposite results were observed for tonsillectomy (0.67 (0.48-0.94)). Increased risk associated with cholecystectomy was the greatest when it occurred ≤ 2 years before the cancer diagnosis (5.93 (2.36-15.7)) but remained statistically significant when that interval was ≥ 20 years (2.27 (1.16-4.32)).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Cholecystectomy, gallstones, and tonsillectomy were associated with an altered risk of pancreatic cancer. Our study suggests that cholecystectomy increased risk but reverse causality may partially account for high risk associated with recent cholecystectomy.
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Epidemiology, Indiana University, Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health at IUPUI, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA [2] Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
authors.forename: A E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Prizment
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR 72205, USA.
authors.forename: I B
authors.initials: IB
authors.lastname: Dhakal
authors.affiliation: 1] Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA [2] Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
authors.forename: K E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Anderson
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002763:Cholecystectomy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D042882:Gallstones / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008910:Minnesota / Q000453:epidemiology; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014068:Tonsillectomy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology