Major dietary patterns in the United Kingdom Women's Cohort Study showed no evidence of prospective association with pancreatic cancer risk

Sangeetha Shyam, Darren C. Greenwood, Chun Wai Mai, Seok Shin Tan, Barakatun Nisak Mohd Yusof, Foong Ming Moy, Janet E. Cade

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

Diet is a modifiable risk factor for pancreatic cancer. We hypothesized that specific dietary patterns would increase/decrease pancreatic cancer risk. We evaluated the association of dietary patterns with pancreatic cancer risk in the UK Women's Cohort Study. Dietary patterns were assessed at enrollment using: (1) self-reported practice of vegan/vegetarian dietary habits, (2) diet quality indices (World Health Organization Healthy Diet Indicator and Mediterranean Diet Score), and (3) principal component analysis-derived dietary patterns. The association of dietary patterns with pancreatic cancer incidence was quantified using Cox regression survival analysis. Over a median follow-up of 19 years of 35,365 respondents, there were 136 incident cases of pancreatic cancer. No association between dietary habits/quality and pancreatic cancer incidence was evident after adjustments (hazard ratio (95% confidence interval): self-reported omnivores vs vegan/vegetarian dietary habit: 1.13 (0.73-1.76); per-unit increase in World Health Organization Healthy Diet Indicator scores: 0.99 (0.91-1.09); per-unit increase in Mediterranean Diet Score: 0.92 (0.83-1.02). Similarly, no association of principal component analysis-derived dietary patterns with pancreatic cancer risk was evident ("prudent:" 1.02 [0.94-1.10]; ``meat-based:'' 1.00 [0.92-1.09]; ``fast-food, sugar-sweetened beverages, and carbohydrate-rich snacks:'' 0.96 [0.86-1.07]; ``cereal and dairy-rich:'' 1.04 [0.94-1.16], and ``low-diversity and lowfat:'' 1.00 [0.89-1.13]). In this prospective cohort of women, several major dietary patterns were of poor quality. There was no evidence of a prospective association between any of the dietary patterns explored and pancreatic cancer incidence.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)41-51
Number of pages11
JournalNutrition Research
Volume118
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2023

Keywords

  • Cohort study
  • Diet quality
  • Dietary pattern
  • Pancreatic cancer
  • United Kingdom Women's Cohort Study

Cite this