Sugar-sweetened soft drinks may increase the risk of pancreatic cancer in women

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Monday, September 26, 2005 8:18 am Email this article
Consumption of sugar-sweetened soft drinks may increase the risk of pancreatic cancer in women, especially overweight women or women who do not exercise according to a study from the Harvard Medical School in Boston, Mass., USA. MEN

Sugar-sweetened sodas associated with 25% lower risk of pancreatic cancer risk in men, but not significant

Consumption of three or more sugar-sweetened sodas per week was associated with 25 percent lower risk of pancreatic cancer risk in men, however, the difference was not statistically significant, which means that there was more than a 5 percent chance that this is simply due to random chance.

Overweight men who consume sugar-sweetened sodas at 23% greater risk

Among overweight men, consumption of three or more sugar-sweetened sodas per week was associated with 23 percent greater risk of pancreatic cancer risk, however, the difference was not statistically significant.

 

DIET SODAS

Diet sodas to not increase the risk

“[C]onsumption of diet soft drinks was not associated with an elevated pancreatic cancer risk,” the researchers noted.

 

WOMEN

Women who drank 3 or more sugary sodas per week were 1.57 times more likely to get pancreatic cancer

Women who consumed more than three sugar-sweetened soft drinks per week were 57 percent more likely to get pancreatic cancer than women who drank sugar-sweetened sodas less than once a month.

 

OVERWEIGHT WOMEN

Overweight women who drank sugar-sweetened sodas 1.89 times greater risk

Among overweight women, that is those with a body mass index (BMI) greater than 25, drinking three or more sugary sodas per week increased the risk 89 percent.

 

NON-EXERCISING WOMEN

Non-exercising women who drank sugar-sweetened sodas 2 times greater risk

And among women who did not get much exercise, those who consume three or more sugar-sweetened sodas per week were twice as likely to get pancreatic cancer, an increased risk of 102 percent or 2.02 times greater risk than those who rarely or never consumed them.

Diabetes and high glycemic loads risk factors for pancreatic cancer

“A history of diabetes mellitus and a diet high in glycemic load are both potential risk factors for pancreatic cancer,” the researchers noted.

“Sugar-sweetened soft drinks are a prevalent source of readily absorbable sugars and have been associated with an increased risk of obesity and diabetes.”

 

RISK PER SODA

Every sugar-sweetened soda per day increases risk 19% in women

Every additional sugar-sweetened soda consumed each day was associated with a 19 percent greater risk of pancreatic cancer in women, but a 10 percent lower risk in men.

 

SUBJECTS

Subjects: 88,794 women and 49,364 men followed for 20 years

The study followed 88,794 women from the Nurses’ Health Study and 49,364 men from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study without cancer when the studies began and followed them for 20 years.

379 cases of pancreatic cancer during 20-year follow-up

There were 379 cases of pancreatic cancer during up to 20 years of follow-up, 205 women and 174 men.

 

CONCLUSION

Conclusion: Greater risk among women and people who are overweight

“[O]ur data may suggest a modestly higher pancreatic cancer risk associated with higher consumption of sugar-sweetened soft drinks among women as well as those who are overweight,” the authors concluded.

 

PANCREATIC CANCER STATISTICS

Pancreatic cancer rapidly fatal;  fourth leading cause of cancer-related death in the U.S.

Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death in the U.S., is usually rapidly fatal with little effective treatments according to the paper.

REFERENCE

Schernhammer ES, Hu F, Giovannucci E, Michaud D, Colditz G, Stampfer M, Fuchs CS. Sugar-sweetened soft drink consumption and risk of pancreatic cancer in two prospective cohorts. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2005 Sep, 14(9):2098-105.

AUTHOR’S CONTACT INFORMATION

Eva Schernhammer
Channing Laboratory
Department of Medicine
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
and
Harvard Medical School
Boston, MA 02115, USA
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Articles on the same subject can be found here:

• Cancer, Pancreatic

• Soft drinks (Coke, Pepsi, etc.)