Poster 15: Overvekt i ung alder, vektendring og risiko for pankreaskreft i voksen alder

Body fatness in adults is an established risk factor for pancreatic cancer; however, the role of childhood body fatness and weight gain remains uncertain.

Background: Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths in Norway, and the etiology of pancreatic cancer is mostly unknown. Body fatness in adults is an established risk factor for pancreatic cancer; however, the role of childhood body fatness and weight gain is uncertain. Thus, our aim was to assess associations between body fatness at a young age, weight change and adult pancreatic cancer risk

Methods: Self-reported information on body type at age 7, weight at age 18 and weight and height at enrolment were included from 164,488 participants in the Norwegian Women and Cancer (NOWAC) cohort. Cox proportional hazards models were used to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the associations between body fatness at a young age, weight change and pancreatic cancer risk.

Results: The mean age at enrolment was 49.3 years. 585 participants developed first primary invasive pancreatic cancer during a mean follow-up time of 18.7 years. Weight loss from age 7 to age 18 was associated with a decreased risk of pancreatic cancer (HR = 0.80, 95% CI: 0.64-1.00) compared to having a stable weight. Further, an absolute weight gain > 15 kg from age 18 to enrolment was associated with an increased pancreatic cancer risk compared to those who gained or lost < 2.5 kg (HR = 1.48, 95% CI: 1.02-2.14). After additional adjustments for red- and processed meat intake, a significant linear trend was observed across groups for both absolute weight change (p = 0.024) and annual weight change (p = 0.018) from age 18 to enrolment.

Conclusion: Overall, no evident associations between body fatness, weight change and pancreatic cancer risk were observed. However, results may indicate that weight loss from childhood to adolescence decreases the risk of pancreatic cancer, while weight gain in adult life increases the risk. Nevertheless, body type at age 7 or BMI at age 18 was not associated with pancreatic cancer risk.