Antioxidants Might Help Cut Pancreatic Cancer Risk, Study Suggests

HealthDay – 1 hr 40 mins ago MONDAY, July 23 (HealthDay News) -- Eating a diet high in antioxidants such as selenium and vitamins C and E may reduce the risk of pancreatic cancer by up to two-thirds, a new study suggests.

The study is observational in nature and can only suggest an association, not a cause-and-effect relationship. The British researchers say, however, that if further research confirms a direct link, this type of diet could prevent 8 percent of pancreatic cancer cases.

One expert said there has been much research into the link between diet and cancer.

"Over the years there have been many attempts to find dietary causes for cancer," said Dr. Vincent Vinciguerra, chief of oncology and hematology at North Shore-LIJ's Monter Cancer Center in Lake Success, N.Y. "It is estimated that 35 percent of cancers are related to carcinogens in the diet. Antioxidants have been the subject of numerous trials because in theory they could be instrumental in the prevention of carcinogenesis."

In the new study, researchers led by Dr. Andrew Hart of the University of East Anglia tracked the long-term health of more than 23,500 people, aged 40 to 74, who entered the study between 1993 and 1997. Each participant kept a food diary that detailed the types, amount and method of preparation for every food they ate for seven days.

After 10 years, 49 participants (55 percent of whom were male) had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. By 2010, the number of participants diagnosed with pancreatic cancer increased to 86 (44 percent were men). On average, patients survived six months after diagnosis.

The researchers found that people with the highest dietary intake of selenium were half as likely to develop pancreatic cancer as those with the lowest intake. Those who consumed the highest dietary intake of three antioxidants -- selenium and vitamins C and E -- were 67 percent less likely to develop pancreatic cancer compared to those with the lowest intake.

The study was published online July 23 in the journal Gut.

Previous studies using antioxidant supplements have not produced such encouraging results, but this may be because antioxidants in food behave differently than those in supplements, Hart and colleagues said.

Vinciguerra agreed that the research so far on this issue has been "conflicting."

For example, he said, there was "a recent study

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Short Walks May Ease Fatigue in Pancreatic Cancer Patients

HealthDay – 4 mins 34 secs ago TUESDAY, April 10 (HealthDay News) -- Regular walking can help reduce fatigue in some pancreatic cancer patients, a new study suggests.

The study included 102 white men and women aged 66 or 67 who underwent pancreatic cancer surgery and were divided into two groups just before they were discharged from the hospital.

One group was sent home with normal instructions that did not include a walking or exercise routine. The other group was told to walk for increasingly long intervals each week for three months. The goal was to walk 90 to 150 minutes per week by the end of the program.

At the start of the study, 85 percent of all patients reported moderate to severe fatigue. By the end of the study, improvements in fatigue levels were reported by 27 percent of those in the walking group and 19 percent of those in the control group. The patients in the walking group also reported less pain than those in the control group.

The study was published in the April issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.

"The beauty of this program is that we're not asking for high-intensity aerobics or a target heart rate," lead author Theresa Yeo, an associate professor of nursing at Thomas Jefferson University School of Nursing in Philadelphia, said in a journal news release. "It's low to moderate intensity, and they can sit if they need to. They don't have to push through it if they are not feeling well that day."

Chronic fatigue affects up to 96 percent of people who are treated for cancer, according to the U.S. National Cancer Institute.

"The message in pancreatic cancer care has typically been that these patients are just too sick to do this, but that's not true anymore," Yeo said. "There is no reason that patients can't become active, even if they did not exercise before."

More information

The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about fatigue in cancer patients.

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