Pancreatic cancer, blood glucose and beverage consumption

Abstract

We studied the incidence of pancreatic cancer in 122,894 men and women who had previously reported amount and frequency of coffee, tea, and alcohol consumption; reporting was done at a multi-phasic health check-up (MHC) taken while subjects were members of a large prepaid health plan. We also tested the hypothesis that a pre-clinical effect of pancreatic cancer on glucose homeostasis leads to mild hyperglycemia and a generally increased thirst. If true, this could partially explain the increased consumption of beverages (particularly coffee) reported in association with pancreatic cancer in some case-control studies. However, in the 49 pancreatic cancer cases diagnosed during 6 years of follow-up, we found no evidence of increased risk associated with coffee, tea, or alcoholic beverages. We also found no evidence to support the increased-thirst hypothesis when we examined the 19 cases diagnosed within 12 months of having MHC. We did confirm a significantly increased risk among cigarette smokers (relative risk, 2.5; 95% confidence interval, 1.3-4.7) which was progressive with increasing levels of cigarette use. In addition, risk of pancreatic cancer was greater for persons previously under treatment for diabetes mellitus (relative risk, 4.5; 95% confidence interval, 1.2-16.7). Our results add to the growing body of evidence against a causal role of coffee in pancreatic cancer.