Pancreatic Cancer - Prevention

Prevention

According to the American Cancer Society, there are no established guidelines for preventing pancreatic cancer, although cigarette smoking has been reported as responsible for 20–30% of pancreatic cancers.

The ACS recommends keeping a healthy weight, and increasing consumption of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, while decreasing red meat intake, although there is no consistent evidence this will prevent or reduce pancreatic cancer specifically. In 2006, a large prospective cohort study of over 80,000 subjects failed to prove a definite association. The evidence in support of this lies mostly in small case-control studies.

A long-term study found that people who consumed in the range of 300 to 449 international units (IU) of vitamin D daily had a 43% lower risk of pancreatic cancer than those who took less than 150 IU per day; 150 IU is appreciably less than what was then, or is now, recommended. The World Health Organization (WHO) International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), concluded that there were insufficient studies in pancreatic cancer, and while it found evidence for an inverse association between vitamin D and colorectal cancer to be persuasive, it found evidence for a causal link to be limited, and also found that randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were inconclusive. Taking too much vitamin D may be harmful. Poor general diet, obesity, and relative physical inactivity can be risk factors in some cancers, so the role of vitamin D itself is not certain.

B vitamins, such as B₁₂, B₆, and folate, can reduce the risk of pancreatic cancer when consumed in food, but not when ingested in vitamin tablet form.