More veggies may curb pancreatic cancer risk -study

By Susan Heavey

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Eating more raw vegetables every
day, especially yellow and dark green ones, may help cut the
risk of pancreatic cancer in half, according to a study
released on Thursday.

Researchers at the University of California in San
Francisco found eating five or more servings of yams, corn,
carrots, onions or other similar vegetables is linked with
lower risk of the disease — one of the most deadly and
hard-to-treat cancers.

Dark green leafy vegetables, such as spinach and kale, and
cruciferous ones like broccoli also worked well, they said.

“Finding strong confirmation that simple life choices can
provide significant protection from pancreatic cancer may be
one of the most practical ways to reduce the incidence of this
dreadful disease,” said Elizabeth Holly, the study’s senior
author and a professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the
school.

Light green veggies and tomatoes were slightly less
beneficial, according to the study, which was funded by the
National Cancer Institute.

The results will be published in the September issue of the
medical journal Cancer, Epidemiology, Biomarkers and
Prevention.

In interviews with 2,233 men and women, including 532
pancreatic cancer patients, researchers cataloged how much
produce they ate for a year. They also asked about other
factors such as overall diet and smoking.

They then compared the habits of the cancer patients to the
1,701 others, who were randomly selected. Those who ate at
least five servings had half the cancer risk compared with
those who ate two or fewer servings.

They said they used that approach rather than tracking
undiagnosed patients to see which ones developed the disease
because pancreatic cancer patients generally do not live long
enough to follow up.

Most patients are diagnosed with advanced stages of the
disease. The pancreas, which helps digestion, is hidden by
other organs, making it hard to detect problems. Survival is
usually months and fewer than 5 percent of patients live for
five years.

Pancreatic cancer is rare. About 32,180 new cases are
expected to be diagnosed in the United States this year,
according to National Cancer Institute experts, and 31,800
people are expected to die from the disease.

Researchers also found eating fruit, especially oranges and
other citric ones, was also helpful but far less beneficial
than their vegetable counterparts.

The way the food was prepared also seemed to make a
difference, they said, with cooked vegetables providing fewer
benefits.