Background: Nutrients involved in one-carbon metabolism are hypothesized to protect against pancreatic cancer development.
Methods: The Singapore Chinese Health Study database was used to prospectively examine the association between intake of one-carbon metabolism-related nutrients and pancreatic cancer risk. Between 1993 and 1998, 63,257 men and women ages 45 to 74 years were enrolled into the cohort. The daily intakes of the following one-carbon metabolism-related nutrients were assessed at enrollment using a 165-item food frequency questionnaire: betaine, choline, folate, and vitamins B2, B6, and B12. Multivariable HRs and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for pancreatic cancer risk associated with dietary intakes of one-carbon metabolism-related nutrients were calculated.
Results: As of December 2013, 271 incident pancreatic cancer cases were identified during an average of 16.3 years of follow-up. Higher intakes of vitamin B6 and choline were associated with statistically significant decreases in the risk of developing pancreatic cancer. Compared with the lowest quartile, HRs (95% CIs) for the highest quartiles of vitamin B6 and choline were 0.52 (0.36-0.74; P trend = 0.001) and 0.67 (0.48-0.93; P trend = 0.04), respectively. There were no clear associations between the other one-carbon metabolism-related nutrients and pancreatic cancer risk.
Conclusion: Our study suggests that higher intake of vitamin B6 and choline may lower the risk of pancreatic cancer.
Impact: Our prospective findings are consistent with the in vivo evidence for protective roles of vitamin B6 and choline on pancreatic cancer development.
©2015 American Association for Cancer Research.