Foliumzuur binnengekregen via voeding beschermt tegen alvleesklierkanker, maar foliumzuur via voedingsuppletie doet dit niet blijkt uit grote prospectieve studie.

31 mei 2011: zie ook de nieuwste bevindingen van het WCRF over de relatie tussen leefstijl en voeding en het risico op kanker. Klik hier voor nieuwste studiegegevens

22 maart 2006: Bron: J Natl Cancer Inst 2006;98:407-413

Dagelijks extra foliumzuur binnen gekregen via voeding rijk aan foliumzuur vermindert kans op alvleesklierkanker. Echter extra foliumzuur via voedingsuppletie lijkt geen effect te hebben als preventie van alvleesklierkanker, zo meldt een grote prospectieve Zweedse studie onder 36,616 vrouwen en 45,306 mannen in de leeftijd van 45 tot 83 in 1997

Dietary Folate Tied to Reduced Risk of Pancreatic Cancer

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Mar 20 - Increased consumption of folate from dietary sources, but not from supplements, appears to reduce the risk of exocrine pancreatic cancer, according to results of a large population-based prospective study of Swedish men and women.

Previous epidemiological studies have suggested a protective role of folate against colorectal and breast cancer, Dr. Susanna C. Larsson and colleagues note in their report, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute for March 15.

To see if folate protects against pancreatic cancer too, Dr. Larsson, from Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, and her group prospectively followed subjects in the Swedish Mammography Cohort and the Cohort of Swedish Men. Included were 36,616 women and 45,306 men ages 45 to 83 years old in 1997, when they completed food frequency questionnaires.

During an average of 6.8 years of follow-up, there were 135 incident cases of exocrine pancreatic cancer. The investigators performed multivariable analyses adjusting for demographics, smoking, BMI, diabetes, exercise, and intake of fruits, vegetables, calories, carbohydrates, and alcohol.
For subjects in the highest quintile of dietary folate intake (350 g/day or higher), the adjusted rate ratio for pancreatic cancer was 0.25 compared with those in the lowest quintile (< 200 g/day), (p for trend = 0.002).

However, there was no association between folic acid from supplements and pancreatic cancer risk (rate ratio for folate supplementation of 300 g/day or more versus 0 g/day = 1.02).

Dr. Larsson's group theorizes that the reason that dietary folate alone reduced the risk of pancreatic cancer may be that folate from food sources better represents long-term folate intake than does folate from supplements. Another possibility suggested by animal studies of high folic acid supplementation is that high intake of folate from supplements may promote the progression of cancer when it already exists in an individual.

"Although our results suggest that increased consumption of foods naturally rich in folate may be beneficial," the authors conclude, "they do not encourage increased use of supplements for the prevention of pancreatic cancer."

J Natl Cancer Inst 2006;98:407-413.