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More veggies may curb pancreatic cancer risk -study

By Susan HeaveyFri Sep 16, 2:39 PM ET

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.