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Taken from: http://www.theprovince.com/health/Drinking+lead+deadly+form+cancer/2535958/story.html


Drinking two or more soft drinks a week may nearly double a person's risk of developing pancreatic cancer, researchers are warning.

Cancer of the pancreas, the disease that killed actor Patrick Swayze last year, is one of the most rapidly fatal tumours in adults; only six per cent of people are alive five years after a diagnosis.

The pancreas makes insulin, and scientists believe high concentrations of insulin can drive the growth of pancreatic cancer cells.

Eating too much sugar increases insulin levels in the body, and one of the leading sources of added sugar in our diets are soft drinks.

The new study, by researchers from the University of Minnesota, was based on more than 60,000 men and women in the Singapore Chinese Health Study who were followed for 14 years. During that time, 140 people developed invasive pancreatic cancer. At the start of the study, as part of a food frequency questionnaire, people were asked to report how often they drank one glass of pop. A glass was considered 237 millilitres, or about the equivalent of one cup. A can of pop contains 355 ml.

Those who reported drinking two or more soft drinks per week had an 87-per-cent increased risk of pancreatic cancer compared to those who didn't drink soft drinks. The pop drinkers were averaging five drinks per week.

The finding held after researchers took smoking, obesity, diabetes, red meat intake, coffee consumption and a "whole myriad" of other nutritional factors into account, said lead author Noel Mueller, now a research associate at the Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington.

There was no significant association between juice consumption and risk of pancreatic cancer.

The study did not distinguish between regular pop and drinks sweetened with a sugar substitute, as "diet soft drinks did not constitute a significant part of the Singaporean beverage intake at the time," Mueller said.

Other studies have looked at the association between pop and pancreatic cancer, but the results haven't been consistent. One of the strengths of the new study is its size.

Mueller also said caution needs to be taken when extrapolating the findings from the Singapore Chinese study to a western population. But, he said, other studies in American and European populations have found similar associations.