Major Dietary Protein Sources in Relation to Pancreatic Cancer: a Large Prospective Study

INTRODUCTION: Current evidence is inconsistent about the association between dietary protein intake and risk of pancreatic cancer (PC). The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between total intake of major dietary protein sources and risk of PC in a large prospective study in Golestan Cohort Study (GCS). METHODS: We examined the association of total intake of major dietary protein sources with risk of PC in the 50,045 participants (20,855 men and 28,255 women) of the GCS in northeastern Iran. Participants were aged 40 and older at baseline and actively followed from 2004 to the present time. Dietary data were collected using a validated semi-quantitative food-frequency questionnaire that was administered at baseline. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate Multivariable hazard ratios with 95% confidence intervals (CI). RESULTS: During 383,630 person-years of follow-up, 54 cases of pancreatic cancer were ascertained. There was only a statistically significant inverse association between risk of PC for the second versus lowest tertile of plant based protein intake in the first and multivariable models (HR95%, 27 – cI – 12 – 64, Hr – 28, 95% CI – 12 – 65 respectively); however, this association was not significant anymore when comparing the (HR – 49, 95% CI – 19 – 1.24, HR – 52, 95% CI – 20-1.34 respectively). CONCLUSION: In this large prospective cohort, we did not observe any clear and consistent evidence for an association between main dietary protein intakes and the risk of PC. Examining the method of cooking is recommended in future studies.