Food and nutrient intakes and K-ras mutations in exocrine pancreatic cancer
- Eva Morales1,
- Miquel Porta1,7,
- Jesús Vioque2,
- Tomás López1,
- Michelle A Mendez1,
- José Pumarega1,
- Núria Malats1,
- Marta Crous-Bou1,8,
- Joy Ngo1,
- Juli Rifà3,
- Alfredo Carrato4,
- Luisa Guarner5,8,
- Josep M Corominas6,8,
- Francisco X Real1,9,
- for the PANKRAS II Study Group*
- 1Institut Municipal d’Investigació Mèdica, Barcelona, and CIBER en Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Spain
- 2School of Medicine, Universidad Miguel Hernández, Alacant, Spain
- 3Hospital Son Dureta, Palma de Mallorca, Spain
- 4Hospital Universitari d’Elx, Alacant, Spain
- 5Hospital Universitari de la Vall d’Hebron, Barcelona, Spain
- 6Hospital Universitari del Mar, Barcelona, Spain
- 7Preventive Medicine & Public Health Educational Unit, UPF-IMAS-ASPB, Barcelona, Spain
- 8School of Medicine, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain
- 9Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
- Correspondence to: Professor M Porta Clinical & Molecular Epidemiology of Cancer Unit, Institut Municipal d’Investigació Mèdica (IMIM), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Carrer del Dr Aiguader 88, E-08003 Barcelona, Spain; mporta{at}imim.es
- Accepted 31 March 2007
Abstract
Background: No studies have investigated the relation between K-ras mutations and dietary factors in exocrine pancreatic cancer (EPC), and fewer than 10 studies have done so in other neoplasms.
Patients and Methods: Incident cases of EPC were prospectively identified, and interviewed face-to-face during hospital admission. Food and nutrient intakes were measured with a food frequency questionnaire. Logistic regression was used to compare EPC cases (n = 107) with and without K-ras mutations (case-case study).
Results: K-ras mutations were more common among daily consumers of milk and other dairy products than among non-daily consumers: the odds ratio adjusted by total energy, age, sex, smoking, alcohol and coffee consumption (ORa) was 5.1 (95% CI 1.1 to 24.5, p = 0.040). For all dairy products, including butter, the ORa for the medium and upper tertiles of intake were 5.4 and 11.6, respectively (p for trend = 0.023). The ORa for regular coffee drinkers further adjusted by dairy consumption was 4.7 (95% CI 1.1 to 20.7, p = 0.043). K-ras mutated cases reported a lower intake of vitamin E (ORa = 0.2, p for trend = 0.036), polyunsaturated fats and omega 3 fatty acids (ORa = 0.2; p for trend <0.03).
Conclusions: Results support the hypothesis that in EPC exposure to specific dietary components or contaminants may influence the occurrence or persistence of K-ras mutations.
- EPC, exocrine pancreatic cancer
- MUFA, monounsaturated fat
- PANKRAS II, Multicentre Prospective Study on the Role of K-ras and other Genetic Alterations in the Diagnosis, Prognosis and Aetiology of Pancreatic and Biliary Diseases
- PUFA, polyunsaturated fat
- RE, retinol equivalents (1 RE = 1 μg = 5 IU of vitamin A)
- SFFQ, semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire
Footnotes
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↵* Members of the Multicentre Prospective Study on the Role of K-ras and other Genetic Alterations in the Diagnosis, Prognosis and Etiology of Pancreatic and Biliary Diseases (PANKRAS II) Study Group are mentioned in previous publications.[10, 15]
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Supported in part by research grants from Red temática de investigación cooperativa de centros en Cáncer (C03/10), Red temática de investigación cooperativa de centros en Epidemiología y salud pública (C03/09), and CIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Pública, Instituto de Salud Carlos III; Oficina de Ciencia y Tecnología de la Generalitat Valenciana (Grupos 03/136); and by Departament de Salut, Generalitat de Catalunya.
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Competing interests: None declared.
