Fizzy drinks link to pancreatic cancer

Drinking just two or more soft drinks a week doubles the risk of developing pancreatic cancer, new research claims.

Scientists think the high sugar content in fizzy drinks may be responsible.

"The high levels of sugar in soft drinks may be increasing the level of insulin in the body, which we think contributes to pancreatic cancer cell growth," said study co-author Dr. Mark Pereira from the University of Minnesota.

Although relatively rare, pancreatic cancer is one of the most deadly cancers. Each year more than 7,500 people in the UK are diagnosed with the disease and around 7,700 die from it. Less than 3% of people diagnosed live for more than five years.

In the study, over 60,000 men and women from Singapore were tracked for 14 years. During that time, 140 people developed pancreatic cancer.

The scientists found that those who drank two or more soft drinks per week (averaging five per week) had an 87% increase risk of developing the disease compared with people who did not.

No association was seen between fruit juice consumption and pancreatic cancer.

Although the study took place in Singapore, Dr. Pereira said it was likely the findings were applicable elsewhere.

"Singapore is a wealthy country with excellent health care. Favourite pastimes are eating and shopping, so the findings should apply to other western countries," he said.

Professor Susan Mayne, from Yale School of Public Health, said the results were intriguing but had some key limitations that should be considered in any interpretation.

"Although this study found a risk, the finding was based on a relatively small number of cases and it remains unclear whether it is a causal association or not.

"Soft drink consumption in Singapore was associated with several other adverse health behaviours such as smoking and red meat intake, which we can't accurately control for," she said.

The findings are published in the journal Cancer, Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.

This article was published on Mon 8 February 2010