Fruit and vegetable consumption in relation to pancreatic cancer risk: a prospective study

Abstract

High consumption of fruits and vegetables has been associated with a lower risk of pancreatic cancer in many case-control studies. However, cohort studies on this relationship are limited and do not support an association. We examined the associations of overall consumption of fruits and vegetables and consumption of certain subgroups of fruits and vegetables with the incidence of pancreatic cancer among 81,922 women and men in the Swedish Mammography Cohort and the Cohort of Swedish Men. Hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were estimated using Cox proportional hazards models. During an average follow-up of 6.8 years (1998-2004), 135 incident pancreatic cancer cases were diagnosed. After adjustment for age and other risk factors for pancreatic cancer, the HRs for the highest compared with the lowest category of intake were 1.13 (95% CI, 0.66-1.94) for total fruits and vegetables, 1.10 (95% CI, 0.64-1.88) for total fruits, and 1.08 (95% CI, 0.63-1.85) for total vegetables. Among specific subgroups of fruits and vegetables, a nonsignificant inverse association was observed with cruciferous vegetable consumption (> or = 3 servings/wk versus <1 serving/wk: HR, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.43-1.13). Cabbage consumption was associated with a statistically significant lower risk of pancreatic cancer (> or = 1 serving/wk versus never consumption: HR, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.39-0.99). Findings from this prospective study do not support a relationship of overall fruit and vegetable consumption with pancreatic cancer risk. The association between consumption of cruciferous vegetables and pancreatic cancer risk warrants further investigation.