Nutrients, food groups, dietary patterns, and risk of pancreatic cancer in postmenopausal women.

INTRODUCTION Identifying modifiable risk factors for pancreatic cancer is important because of its poor prognosis. Previous findings on diet are inconsistent. METHODS Associations between intake of nutrients, food groups, dietary patterns, and pancreatic cancer risk were examined among 34,642 postmenopausal women in the Iowa Women's Health Study (IWHS). RESULTS No significant associations were observed between intake of nutrients and food groups or dietary patterns and pancreatic cancer. CONCLUSION Our findings do not support the hypothesis that fruits, vegetables, and red meat are associated with risk of pancreatic cancer. IMPACT Dietary intake, assessed in multiple aspects in a large prospective cohort study, was not associated with pancreatic cancer.