Health Options: Risk of pancreatic cancer on the rise

The recent loss of Aretha Franklin from pancreatic cancer at the age of 76 has renewed interest in the disease. Franklin joined a long list of famous people who died from this type of cancer — ranging from Jack Benny to Steve Jobs.

Among the different types of cancer, this cancer seems to be on the rise. Currently, pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of death from cancer, but it is projected to become the second leading cause within the next 10 to 15 years.

QUESTION: What is unique about pancreatic cancer?

ANSWER: Research indicates that it can take up to 18 years for an initial cellular mutation to develop into a diagnosable cancer.

However, once diagnosed, the average survival time is about six months or less. Since treatment has such a low success rate, understanding how to prevent pancreatic cancer is of great interest.

Q: Do we know what causes pancreatic cancer?

A: As with other types of cancer, certain cells start to grow out of control. But, what initiates this is not known. It is thought that less than 10 percent of pancreatic cancer cases are hereditary.

Therefore, understanding which environmental and lifestyle factors increase this cancer risk is important.

Factors like smoking, obesity and diabetes are associated with increased risk, but nutrition and dietary habits also appear to be important.

Q: Can good nutrition help to prevent pancreatic cancer?

A: Possibly, but there are still many questions. An adequate intake of some key nutrients has been linked to reduced risk.

Although not all nutrients have been studied, adequate dietary vitamin C, folate (B9), vitamin E, selenium, vitamin A and carotenoids are all associated with decreased cancer risk.

Consumption of the fatty acid DHA found in fish oils has also been associated with reduced risk. Getting these nutrients from supplements, however, does not appear to provide the same protection as consuming them from foods.

Diets high in red meat, processed meats, and alcohol appear to increase pancreatic cancer risk. But, the positive or negative effects of specific foods are difficult to clearly establish.

Consequently, researchers have turned to studying how various dietary patterns combined with other lifestyle factors relate to pancreatic cancer.

Overall, people with the lowest risk of developing pancreatic cancer don’t smoke or drink alcohol heavily.

They engage in regular vigorous physical activity, maintain a healthy body weight and eat a wide variety of plant-based foods and fish, as well as a moderate intake of meat and dairy foods.

Of course, lowering risk factors does not guarantee pancreatic cancer prevention. Many other factors may trigger pancreatic cancer such as extreme diets, exposure to environmental toxins and chronic stress.

Alan Titchenal and Joannie Dobbs are nutritionists in the Department of Human Nutrition, Food and Animal Sciences, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawaii-Manoa.