Dietary acrylamide and pancreatic cancer risk in an Italian case-control study

Background: Information on the relation between acrylamide exposure and risk of pancreatic cancer is scanty and inconsistent. Patients and methods: We investigated the issue in a case–control study conducted from 1991 to 2008 in Northern Italy. Cases were 326 patients with incident pancreatic cancer, admitted to major teaching and general hospitals. Controls were 652 subjects admitted to the same hospitals with acute non-neoplastic conditions. Acrylamide mean content of various food items was derived from international databases and Italian sources. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of pancreatic cancer were derived using conditional logistic regression adjusted for several covariates, including energy intake. Results: The ORs of pancreatic cancer for subsequent quintiles of acrylamide intake, as compared with the lowest one, were 1.48 (95% CI 0.88–2.50), 1.57 (95% CI 0.91–2.69), 1.70 (95% CI 0.98–2.96) and 1.49 (95% CI 0.83–2.70), with no trend in risk (P value 0.21). The OR for an increase in acrylamide intake of 10 μg/day was 1.01 (95% CI 0.92–1.10). No meaningful difference between ORs was found in strata of smoking habit, alcohol drinking, body mass index and other selected covariates. Conclusion: This study found no association between dietary acrylamide and pancreatic cancer in an Italian population.