Diets rich in fat from red meat and dairy products can increase a person's risk of contracting cancer of the pancreas, researchers are warning.

Scientists at the National Cancer Institute in the United States asked more than half a million people to provide precise details of their diet over six years. The team found that those who consumed most animal fat had a higher risk of developing the cancer.

Pancreatic cancer is the 11th most common cancer in Britain. Around 7,600 people are diagnosed with it every year. For most, the prognosis is poor: only 2% to 3% survive for five years or more.

Smoking is rated as the biggest risk factor. While researchers have argued that diet is also involved, past studies have produced inconclusive results. However, Rachael Z. Stolzenberg-Solomon, leader of the institute's pancreatic cancer project, said the new study had revealed a clear association between pancreatic cancer risk and diet, in particular high levels of animal fat. "Reducing fat may reduce the risk of pancreatic cancer," she said.

The researchers collected data on 308,736 men and 216,737 women. Each completed a 124-item food questionnaire in 1995 and 1996.

During an average of six years of follow-up, 1,337 people were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Men who consumed the most fat from animal sources had a 53% increased risk of developing pancreatic cancer and women had a 23% increased risk, compared with men and women who ate the least fat, the study found.

In addition, it was discovered that people who ate high amounts of saturated fats had 36% higher rates of pancreatic cancer than did those who ate low amounts.

In a paper published by the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Stolzenberg-Solomon said the researchers had observed positive associations between pancreatic cancer and intakes of total, saturated, and mono-unsaturated fat, particularly from red meat and dairy food sources.

"We did not observe any consistent association with poly-unsaturated or fat from plant food sources," she said. "Altogether, these results suggest a role for animal fat in pancreatic carcinogenesis."

The importance of the US study was underlined by Josephine Querido, senior science information officer for Cancer Research UK. "This large study adds to the evidence that pancreatic cancer is more common in people who eat too much fat, particularly saturated fat.

"Understanding ways of reducing the risk of pancreatic cancer is very important, because it can be very difficult to treat.

"Apart from stopping smoking, the best way to reduce your risk of cancer is to eat plenty of fruit, vegetables and fibre and to cut down on fatty foods, red and processed meat and limit your intake of alcohol."

高脂肪含量饮食增加罹患胰腺癌的风险

研究人员正在发出警告：摄入大量的富含脂肪的肉类和奶制品能增加人的罹患胰腺癌的可能。

在过去六年内，美国国立癌症研究所的科学家们要求五十多万人提供其饮食的具体情况，该研究小组发现消费大量动物脂肪的人群得癌症的可能性更高。

胰腺癌在英国常见癌症中位列11位，每年约有7600人诊断患有此病，而治愈状况堪忧--仅2-3%能够生命能持续5年及以上。

抽烟是最大的致癌因素。在研究者认为饮食也是其中一个诱因后，以往的研究的结果就有些不能使人信服了。然而，研究院的胰腺癌研究项目负责人莉秋Z.斯德森博格·索拉曼说，这项新的发现说明胰腺癌与饮食之间--尤其是高动物脂肪比例有着明显的关系，"减少脂肪摄入就能降低患胰腺癌的风险。"

研究者收集了308,736位男性和216,737女性的数据，他们每个人都在1995-1996年度完成了124项的饮食调查问卷。

该研究发现，在连续的六年间，平均每年有1337人诊断患有胰腺癌，与摄入量最低的男性和女性相比，摄入动物脂肪量最高的男性患胰腺癌的风险增加了53%,而这一数字在女性中为23%.

另外，研究人员发现摄入高含量的饱和脂肪的群体，比那些摄入饱和脂肪量低的群体患有胰腺癌的可能高36%.斯德森博格·索拉曼在美国国立癌症研究院的一份期刊中发表了一篇文章，她声称研究人员已经观测到胰腺癌与饱和脂肪及单不饱和脂肪--尤其是那些从动物肉和奶源制品中摄入的的总量之间村子正相关性。

斯德森博格·索拉曼说，"尚未观测到单不饱和脂肪或植物源的脂肪与患此癌症的连续相关性，总的来讲，这些结果表明了动物脂肪在引起此病的作用。"

美国的这份研究引起了英国癌症研究所的资深科学信息官员杰森佛·克立德的重视，"这份大规模的研究提供了更多的证据，它证明了胰腺癌在摄入过量脂肪尤其是饱和脂肪的人群中更为常见。"

"理解降低此癌症的风险的方式非常重要，因为此病很难治疗。"

"除戒除抽烟以外，减少胰腺癌风险的最好方式就是多吃水果、蔬菜和纤维素，减少脂肪的摄入量，少吃生肉和加工肉和限制饮酒。"