Study: 2 soft drinks per week raises pancreatic cancer risk

U.S. researchers have found people who drink two or more sweetened soft drinks a week have a much higher risk of pancreatic cancer, media reports said Tuesday quoting findings in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

Researchers tracked 60,524 participants in the Singapore Chinese Health Study over 14 years. Over that time, 140 of the volunteers developed pancreatic cancer. Those who drank two or more soft drinks a week had an increased risk — or nearly twice the risk — of pancreatic cancer compared to individuals consuming little or no sugar-sweetened beverages.

To be exact, the risk is 87 percent higher, even after accounting for factors like age, obesity, diabetes and cigarette smoking.

Sugar in soda may be to blame — at high amounts, it could boost the body’s insulin levels and spur cancer cell growth. The pancreas produces insulin to balance the body’s blood sugar levels. So, extra sugar means extra insulin and that is the problem, researchers said.

Other studies have linked pancreatic cancer to red meat, especially burned or charred meat.