Nutritional factors and pancreatic cancer: a case-control study from south-west Poland.

A population-based case-control study of diet and pancreatic cancer has been conducted in the Opole Voivodeship region in Poland, using 110 cases and 195 controls. A full diet history was used to estimate the daily intake of calories, fat, protein, carbohydrate, cholesterol, retinol, vitamin C, and fibre. There is a strong positive association with the intake of cholesterol with relative risks of 1.90, 3.77, and 4.31 for the 3 upper quartiles compared with the lowest (p, trend = less than 0.01). An inverse association was seen with vitamin C intake, with corresponding relative risks of 1.10, 0.30, and 0.37 (p, trend = less than 0.01). Weak inverse associations were seen with the intake of retinol and fibre. There is evidence of an inverse association with fat intake, particularly unsaturated fats, and of a positive association with the intake of carbohydrate and to a lesser extent, protein. These results further support the potential importance of dietary factors in the aetiology of cancer of the pancreas.