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Ethanol intake and the risk of pancreatic cancer in the European prospective investigation into cancer and nutrition (EPIC)

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Abstract

Objective

To examine the association of baseline and lifetime ethanol intake with cancer of the pancreas in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC).

Methods

Included in this analysis were 478,400 subjects, of whom detailed information on the intake of alcoholic beverages at baseline and over lifetime was collected between 1992 and 2000. During a median follow-up time of 8.9 years, 555 non-endocrine pancreatic cancer cases were observed. Multivariate Cox proportional hazard models were used to examine the association of ethanol intake at recruitment and average lifetime ethanol intake and pancreatic cancer adjusting for smoking, height, weight, and history of diabetes.

Results

Overall, neither ethanol intake at recruitment (relative risk (RR) = 0.94, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.69–1.27 comparing 30+ g/d vs. 0.1–4.9 g/d) nor average lifetime ethanol intake (RR = 0.95, 95% CI 0.65–1.39) was associated with pancreatic cancer risk. High lifetime ethanol intake from spirits/liquor at recruitment tended to be associated with a higher risk (RR = 1.40, 95% CI 0.93–2.10 comparing 10+ g/d vs. 0.1–4.9 g/d), but no associations were observed for wine and beer consumption.

Conclusion

These results suggest no association of alcohol consumption with the risk of pancreatic cancer.

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Acknowledgments

European Commission: Public Health and Consumer Protection Directorate 1993–2004; Research Directorate-General 2005-; Deutsche Krebshilfe, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, German Federal Ministry of Education and Research; Danish Cancer Society; Health Research Fund (FIS) of the Spanish Ministry of Health, Spanish Regional Governments of Andalucia, Asturias, Basque Country, Murcia and Navarra; the ISCIII Network RCESP (C03/09), Spain; Cancer Research UK; Medical Research Council, United Kingdom; Stroke Association, United Kingdom; British Heart Foundation; Department of Health, United Kingdom; Food Standards Agency, United Kingdom; Wellcome Trust, United Kingdom; Greek Ministry of Health; Greek Ministry of Education; Italian Association for Research on Cancer (AIRC); Italian National Research Council, Fondazione-Istituto Banco Napoli, Italy; Compagnia di San Paolo; Dutch Ministry of Public Health, Welfare and Sports; World Cancer Research Fund; Swedish Cancer Society; Swedish Scientific Council; Regional Government of Skåne, Sweden; Norwegian Cancer Society; Research Council of Norway; French League against Cancer (LNCC); National Institute for Health and Medical Research (INSERM), France; Mutuelle Générale de l’Education Nationale (MGEN), France; 3 M Co, France; Gustave Roussy Institute (IGR), France; and General Councils of France

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Clinical Epidemiology, German Cancer Research Centre, Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany

    Sabine Rohrmann, Jakob Linseisen & Rudolf Kaaks

  2. National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, The Netherlands

    Alina Vrieling & H. Bas Bueno-de-Mesquita

  3. Julius Center, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Alina Vrieling & Petra H. M. Peeters

  4. International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC–WHO), Lyon, France

    Paolo Boffetta, Nadia Slimani, Eric J. Duell & Mazda Jenab

  5. Nutritional Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Rockville, MD, USA

    Rachael Z. Stolzenberg-Solomon

  6. New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY, USA

    Albert B. Lowenfels

  7. Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Aalborg Hospital, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark

    Majken K. Jensen & Kim Overvad

  8. Institute of Cancer Epidemiology, Danish Cancer Society, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Anja Olsen & Anne Tjonneland

  9. Inserm ERI20, Paris XI University, Institut Gustave-Roussy, Villejuif, France

    Marie-Christine Boutron-Ruault, Francoise Clavel-Chapelon & G. Fagherazzi

  10. Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, University of Athens Medical School, Athens, Greece

    Gesthimani Misirli, Pagona Lagiou & Antonia Trichopoulou

  11. Department of Epidemiology, German Institute of Human Nutrition, Potsdam-Rehbrücke, Germany

    Manuela M. Bergmann & Heiner Boeing

  12. MRC Dunn Human Nutrition Unit, Cambridge, UK

    Sheila Bingham

  13. Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Institute of Public Health, University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, Cambridge, UK

    Kay-Tee Khaw

  14. Cancer Epidemiology Unit, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Naomi Allen & Andrew Roddam

  15. Molecular and Nutritional Epidemiology Unit, Cancer Research and Prevention Institute (ISPO), Florence, Italy

    Domenico Palli

  16. Nutritional Epidemiology Unit, National Cancer Institute, Milan, Italy

    Valeria Pala

  17. Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Federico II University, Naples, Italy

    Salvatore Panico

  18. Cancer Registry, Azienda Ospedaliera “Civile MP Arezzo”, Ragusa, Italy

    Rosario Tumino

  19. Environmental Epidemiology, Imperial College London, London, UK

    Paolo Vineis

  20. Faculty of Medicine, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Imperial College London, London, UK

    Petra H. M. Peeters, Dominique S. Michaud, Traci Mouw & Elio Riboli

  21. Cancer Registry of Norway, Insititute of Population-Based Cancer Research, Oslo, Norway

    Anette Hjartåker

  22. Institute of Community Medicine, University of Tromsø, Tromso, Norway

    Eiliv Lund

  23. Health and Health Services Council of Asturias, Public Health Directorate, Asturias, Spain

    Ma Luisa Redondo Cornejo

  24. Unit of Nutrition, Environment and Cancer, Catalan Institute of Oncology, Barcelona, Spain

    Antonio Agudo

  25. Public Health Department of Gipuzkoa, Basque Government, Gipuzkoa, Spain

    Larraitz Arriola

  26. Ciber en Epidemiologia y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Murcia, Spain

    Larraitz Arriola, Maria-José Sánchez, María-José Tormo & Aurelio Barricarte Gurrea

  27. Andalusian School of Public Health, Granada, Spain

    Maria-José Sánchez

  28. Department of Epidemiology, Murcia Regional Health Council, Murcia, Spain

    María-José Tormo

  29. Public Health Institute of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain

    Aurelio Barricarte Gurrea

  30. Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Björn Lindkvist

  31. Department of Surgery, Malmö University Hospital, Malmo, Sweden

    Jonas Manjer

  32. Department of Odontology, Cardiology, Umeå University Hospital, Umea, Sweden

    Ingegerd Johansson

  33. Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden

    Weimin Ye

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  1. Sabine Rohrmann
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  2. Jakob Linseisen
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  3. Alina Vrieling
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  5. Rachael Z. Stolzenberg-Solomon
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  10. Anne Tjonneland
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  11. Marie-Christine Boutron-Ruault
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  14. Gesthimani Misirli
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  18. Manuela M. Bergmann
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  19. Heiner Boeing
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  20. Sheila Bingham
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  21. Kay-Tee Khaw
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  22. Naomi Allen
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  24. Domenico Palli
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  26. Salvatore Panico
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  27. Rosario Tumino
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  28. Paolo Vineis
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  29. Petra H. M. Peeters
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  30. Anette Hjartåker
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  31. Eiliv Lund
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  33. Antonio Agudo
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  35. Maria-José Sánchez
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  36. María-José Tormo
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  37. Aurelio Barricarte Gurrea
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  38. Björn Lindkvist
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  39. Jonas Manjer
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  40. Ingegerd Johansson
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  41. Weimin Ye
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  42. Nadia Slimani
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  43. Eric J. Duell
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  44. Mazda Jenab
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  45. Dominique S. Michaud
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  46. Traci Mouw
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  47. Elio Riboli
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  48. H. Bas Bueno-de-Mesquita
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sabine Rohrmann.

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Rohrmann, S., Linseisen, J., Vrieling, A. et al. Ethanol intake and the risk of pancreatic cancer in the European prospective investigation into cancer and nutrition (EPIC). Cancer Causes Control 20, 785–794 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-008-9293-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-008-9293-8

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