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. 2010 May 10;170(9):791-802.
doi: 10.1001/archinternmed.2010.63.

Anthropometric measures, body mass index, and pancreatic cancer: a pooled analysis from the Pancreatic Cancer Cohort Consortium (PanScan)

Alan A Arslan  1 , Kathy J Helzlsouer, Charles Kooperberg, Xiao-Ou Shu, Emily Steplowski, H Bas Bueno-de-Mesquita, Charles S Fuchs, Myron D Gross, Eric J Jacobs, Andrea Z Lacroix, Gloria M Petersen, Rachael Z Stolzenberg-Solomon, Wei Zheng, Demetrius Albanes, Laufey Amundadottir, William R Bamlet, Aurelio Barricarte, Sheila A Bingham, Heiner Boeing, Marie-Christine Boutron-Ruault, Julie E Buring, Stephen J Chanock, Sandra Clipp, J Michael Gaziano, Edward L Giovannucci, Susan E Hankinson, Patricia Hartge, Robert N Hoover, David J Hunter, Amy Hutchinson, Kevin B Jacobs, Peter Kraft, Shannon M Lynch, Jonas Manjer, Joann E Manson, Anne McTiernan, Robert R McWilliams, Julie B Mendelsohn, Dominique S Michaud, Domenico Palli, Thomas E Rohan, Nadia Slimani, Gilles Thomas, Anne Tjønneland, Geoffrey S Tobias, Dimitrios Trichopoulos, Jarmo Virtamo, Brian M Wolpin, Kai Yu, Anne Zeleniuch-Jacquotte, Alpa V Patel; Pancreatic Cancer Cohort Consortium (PanScan)
Collaborators, Affiliations

Anthropometric measures, body mass index, and pancreatic cancer: a pooled analysis from the Pancreatic Cancer Cohort Consortium (PanScan)

Alan A Arslan et al. Arch Intern Med. .

Abstract

Background: Obesity has been proposed as a risk factor for pancreatic cancer.

Methods: Pooled data were analyzed from the National Cancer Institute Pancreatic Cancer Cohort Consortium (PanScan) to study the association between prediagnostic anthropometric measures and risk of pancreatic cancer. PanScan applied a nested case-control study design and included 2170 cases and 2209 control subjects. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using unconditional logistic regression for cohort-specific quartiles of body mass index (BMI [calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared]), weight, height, waist circumference, and waist to hip ratio as well as conventional BMI categories (underweight, <18.5; normal weight, 18.5-24.9; overweight, 25.0-29.9; obese, 30.0-34.9; and severely obese, > or = 35.0). Models were adjusted for potential confounders.

Results: In all of the participants, a positive association between increasing BMI and risk of pancreatic cancer was observed (adjusted OR for the highest vs lowest BMI quartile, 1.33; 95% CI, 1.12-1.58; P(trend) < .001). In men, the adjusted OR for pancreatic cancer for the highest vs lowest quartile of BMI was 1.33 (95% CI, 1.04-1.69; P(trend) < .03), and in women it was 1.34 (95% CI, 1.05-1.70; P(trend) = .01). Increased waist to hip ratio was associated with increased risk of pancreatic cancer in women (adjusted OR for the highest vs lowest quartile, 1.87; 95% CI, 1.31-2.69; P(trend) = .003) but less so in men.

Conclusions: These findings provide strong support for a positive association between BMI and pancreatic cancer risk. In addition, centralized fat distribution may increase pancreatic cancer risk, especially in women.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Risk Estimates for Pancreatic Cancer Associated with BMI by Study for Overweight People (25–<30 kg/m^2) As Compared to Normal (<=25 kg/m^2)
Figure 2
Figure 2. Risk Estimates for Pancreatic Cancer Associated with BMI by Study for Obese People (30–<35 kg/m^2) As Compared to Normal (<=25 kg/m^2)
Figure 3
Figure 3. Risk Estimates for Pancreatic Cancer Associated with BMI by Study for Very Obese People (35+ kg/m^2) As Compared to Normal (<=25 kg/m^2)
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