BACKGROUND: Ecological studies showing an inverse association between pancreatic cancer incidence and mortality and levels of ultraviolet radiation (UVR), suggest that higher levels of sun exposure may reduce risks of pancreatic cancer but there has been only one individual-level study that examined this issue. We aimed to examine the association between pancreatic cancer and markers of exposure to solar UVR, namely skin type, treatment of skin lesions, ambient UVR and time outdoors on work days. METHODS: We used data from an Australian case-control study. Location at birth, residential location during adulthood, outdoors work, history of skin lesion treatment and sensitivity of the skin to the sun were obtained by questionnaire. We limited the analyses to Caucasians who answered the questionnaire about UVR (controls=589/711 recruited; cases=496/705 recruited). We used NASA's Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer to estimate ambient UVR. RESULTS: Being born in or living in areas of higher ambient UVR (compared to lower ambient UVR) was associated with about 30-40% lower risk of pancreatic cancer. People with fair skin colour had 47% lower risk of pancreatic cancer than those with dark skin colour (95% CI 0.37-0.75). There was some suggestion of increased risk with increased average number of hours spent outside at work. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that people with light skin colour or those born or living in areas of high ambient UVR have lower risk of pancreatic cancer. Our analysis supports an association between UVR and pancreatic cancer, possibly mediated through production of vitamin D.
BACKGROUND: Ecological studies showing an inverse association between pancreatic cancer incidence and mortality and levels of ultraviolet radiation (UVR), suggest that higher levels of sun exposure may reduce risks of pancreatic cancer but there has been only one individual-level study that examined this issue. We aimed to examine the association between pancreatic cancer and markers of exposure to solar UVR, namely skin type, treatment of skin lesions, ambient UVR and time outdoors on work days. METHODS: We used data from an Australian case-control study. Location at birth, residential location during adulthood, outdoors work, history of skin lesion treatment and sensitivity of the skin to the sun were obtained by questionnaire. We limited the analyses to Caucasians who answered the questionnaire about UVR (controls=589/711 recruited; cases=496/705 recruited). We used NASA's Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer to estimate ambient UVR. RESULTS: Being born in or living in areas of higher ambient UVR (compared to lower ambient UVR) was associated with about 30-40% lower risk of pancreatic cancer. People with fair skin colour had 47% lower risk of pancreatic cancer than those with dark skin colour (95% CI 0.37-0.75). There was some suggestion of increased risk with increased average number of hours spent outside at work. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that people with light skin colour or those born or living in areas of high ambient UVR have lower risk of pancreatic cancer. Our analysis supports an association between UVR and pancreatic cancer, possibly mediated through production of vitamin D.
Authors: M Waterhouse; H A Risch; C Bosetti; K E Anderson; G M Petersen; W R Bamlet; M Cotterchio; S P Cleary; T I Ibiebele; C La Vecchia; H G Skinner; L Strayer; P M Bracci; P Maisonneuve; H B Bueno-de-Mesquita; W Zaton Ski; L Lu; H Yu; K Janik-Koncewicz; J Polesel; D Serraino; R E Neale Journal: Ann Oncol Date: 2015-05-14 Impact factor: 32.976
Authors: Vanessa L Beesley; Leesa F Wockner; Peter O'Rourke; Monika Janda; David Goldstein; Helen Gooden; Neil D Merrett; Dianne L O'Connell; Ingrid J Rowlands; David K Wyld; Rachel E Neale Journal: Support Care Cancer Date: 2016-04-16 Impact factor: 3.603
Authors: C Pelucchi; V Rosato; P M Bracci; D Li; R E Neale; E Lucenteforte; D Serraino; K E Anderson; E Fontham; E A Holly; M M Hassan; J Polesel; C Bosetti; L Strayer; J Su; P Boffetta; E J Duell; C La Vecchia Journal: Ann Oncol Date: 2017-02-01 Impact factor: 32.976
Authors: C Bosetti; V Rosato; D Li; D Silverman; G M Petersen; P M Bracci; R E Neale; J Muscat; K Anderson; S Gallinger; S H Olson; A B Miller; H Bas Bueno-de-Mesquita; G Scelo; V Janout; I Holcatova; P Lagiou; D Serraino; E Lucenteforte; E Fabianova; P A Baghurst; W Zatonski; L Foretova; E Fontham; W R Bamlet; E A Holly; E Negri; M Hassan; A Prizment; M Cotterchio; S Cleary; R C Kurtz; P Maisonneuve; D Trichopoulos; J Polesel; E J Duell; P Boffetta; C La Vecchia; P Ghadirian Journal: Ann Oncol Date: 2014-07-23 Impact factor: 32.976
Authors: Erica J Childs; Evelina Mocci; Daniele Campa; Paige M Bracci; Steven Gallinger; Michael Goggins; Donghui Li; Rachel E Neale; Sara H Olson; Ghislaine Scelo; Laufey T Amundadottir; William R Bamlet; Maarten F Bijlsma; Amanda Blackford; Michael Borges; Paul Brennan; Hermann Brenner; H Bas Bueno-de-Mesquita; Federico Canzian; Gabriele Capurso; Giulia M Cavestro; Kari G Chaffee; Stephen J Chanock; Sean P Cleary; Michelle Cotterchio; Lenka Foretova; Charles Fuchs; Niccola Funel; Maria Gazouli; Manal Hassan; Joseph M Herman; Ivana Holcatova; Elizabeth A Holly; Robert N Hoover; Rayjean J Hung; Vladimir Janout; Timothy J Key; Juozas Kupcinskas; Robert C Kurtz; Stefano Landi; Lingeng Lu; Ewa Malecka-Panas; Andrea Mambrini; Beatrice Mohelnikova-Duchonova; John P Neoptolemos; Ann L Oberg; Irene Orlow; Claudio Pasquali; Raffaele Pezzilli; Cosmeri Rizzato; Amethyst Saldia; Aldo Scarpa; Rachael Z Stolzenberg-Solomon; Oliver Strobel; Francesca Tavano; Yogesh K Vashist; Pavel Vodicka; Brian M Wolpin; Herbert Yu; Gloria M Petersen; Harvey A Risch; Alison P Klein Journal: Nat Genet Date: 2015-06-22 Impact factor: 38.330