Soft Drinks May Boost Pancreatic-Cancer Risk

Pancreatic cancer is one of the rarest and most lethal forms of cancer. Statistics show that, of the people diagnosed with the condition, a little below five percent were alive five years later. There is currently no cure for the condition except prevention, and, recently, those seeking to avert such a faith have been given a new foe to steer clear of – soft drinks. A new investigation has determined that these beverages, even consumed two or three times per week, promote the risk of developing pancreatic cancer by more than 200 percent in people consuming them, PhysOrg reports.

“The high levels of sugar in soft drinks may be increasing the level of insulin in the body, which we think contributes to pancreatic cancer cell growth,” University of Minnesota School of Public Health Associate Professor Mark Pereira, PhD, explains. He has also been the senior author of the new study, details of which appear in the latest issue of the respected journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. The journal is published by the American Association for Cancer Research.

The team Pereira led determined that soft drinks – which, for the purpose of this study, were defined as carbonated, sugar-sweetened beverages – also promoted a poorer behavioral profile in general in the people consuming them. This study is unlike others conducted before it for its sheer magnitude. For more than 14 years, it kept track of 60,524 men and women, who were involved in the Singapore Chinese Health Study, and determined that those averaging about five drinks per week had an 87-percent risk of developing pancreatic cancer. The researchers were quick to point out, however, that no negative effects were discovered between fruit-juice consumption and the deadly type of cancer.

“Although this study found a risk, the finding was based on a relatively small number of cases and it remains unclear whether it is a causal association or not. Soft drink consumption in Singapore was associated with several other adverse health behaviors such as smoking and red meat intake, which we can't accurately control for,” Yale Cancer Center Associate Director Susan Mayne, PhD, says. She is also a Yale School of Public Health professor of epidemiology, and an editorial board member of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.