Associations Between Intakes of Carotenoids and Tocopherols with Risk of Pancreatic Cancer in a Population-Based Case-Control Study.

Objective: Experimental studies suggest that carotenoids and tocopherols modulate pancreatic carcinogenesis because they have antioxidant and other functions. We investigated the associations between intakes of these compounds and the risk of pancreatic cancer in a case-control study conducted in 1994-1998.

Methods: The present analysis included 150 cases of pancreatic cancer recruited from all hospitals in the metropolitan area of the Twin Cities and Mayo Clinic and 459 controls randomly selected from the general population and frequency matched to cases by age, sex, and race. The intakes of carotenoids and tocopherols were assessed with a validated food frequency questionnaire. Unconditional logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate the associations of interest.

Results: The energy-adjusted intake of lutein/zeaxanthin was significantly lower in cases (2410 µg/day) than in controls (3020 µg/day). After adjustment for confounders, persons in the fourth quartile of lutein/zeaxanthin intake had a reduced risk of pancreatic cancer compared with those in the first quartile [odds ratio (OR) (95% CI): 0.40 (0.17-0.91)]. There were no significant associations with intakes of other carotenoids and tocopherols considered and with a composite score created from all individual carotenoids examined. We did not detect any significant interactions of intakes of carotenoids and tocopherols with age, sex, cigarette smoking, or alcohol intake in relation to pancreatic cancer risk.

Conclusion: The present study suggests an inverse association between lutein/zeaxanthin intake and pancreatic cancer risk, but a potential beneficial effect was not observed for other carotenoids and tocopherols.