Boston's
Harvard School of Public Health has found no association with two wide-ranging
dietary patterns and the risk of pancreatic cancer.
Lead author
Dominique Michaud assessed the dietary patterns of nearly 125,000 participants
enrolled in the Brigham and Women's Hospital-based Nurses Health Study
and the HSPH-based Health Professionals Follow-up Study.
The researchers
identified two dietary patterns; the western diet -- high consumption of
red meat, processed meat, French fries, processed grains, sweets, desserts
and sugared beverages -- and a prudent diet, consisting of high consumption
of fruits, vegetables, fish, poultry, legumes and whole grains.
The researchers
found no strong association between the two dietary patterns and the risk
of pancreatic cancer among the study participants, even when looking at
lifestyle factors such as smoking and body mass index.
"We have previously
shown that a high glycemic load and dietary sugar are related to an elevated
risk of pancreatic cancer among women," said Michaud. "More research needs
to be done to examine individual dietary factors."
The findings
appear in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
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Copyright 2005 by United
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