TOBACCO, ETHANOL, COFFEE, PANCREATITIS, DIABETES-MELLITUS, AND CHOLELITHIASIS AS RISK-FACTORS FOR PANCREATIC-CARCINOMA

A hospital-based case-control study of pancreatic cancer was conducted in Athens in 1991-92. One hundred and eighty-one patients operated on for cancer of the exocrine pancreas in eight teaching hospitals forme d the case series, whereas hospital patient controls and hospital visi tor controls formed two independent comparison series. Cases and contr ols were matched by hospital, gender, and age in a 1:1:1 ratio, and ev ery matched triplet was interviewed in person by the same researcher. Results indicate that tobacco smoking increased the risk of pancreatic cancer, whereas neither coffee drinking nor consumption of alcoholic beverages were associated with the disease. Diabetes mellitus, choleli thiasis, and pancreatitis were associated positively with risk of panc reatic cancer, whereas allergic asthma was inversely (but not signific antly) related to the disease. There was a suggestion that earlier age at menarche was associated with increased risk of pancreatic cancer a nd that parous women were at lower risk. No consistent associations we re noted with respect to gastrectomy, other medical conditions or oper ations, birth order, height, weight, broad occupational groups, or oth er reproductive variables. The two comparison series were remarkably s imilar with respect to the whole spectrum of the study variables.