Quality diet index and risk of pancreatic cancer: Findings from the Singapore Chinese health study

Background: Limited research has been conducted on the effect of quality diet index (QDI), which represents a comprehensive assessment of healthy diet quality and quantity, on pancreatic cancer risk in Asian populations. Methods: Using data from the Singapore Chinese Health Study, a prospective cohort of 63,257 middle-aged or older Chinese men and women, four QDI scores: the Alternative Health Eating Index-2010 (AHEI-2010), the alternate Mediterranean Diet (aMED), the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH), and the Heathy Diet Indicator (HDI), at baseline were calculated. After 25 years of follow-up, 311 cohort participants developed pancreatic cancer. Cox proportional hazard regression method was used to estimate HR and 95% confidence interval (CI) for pancreatic cancer associated with higher QDI scores. Results: Higher scores of AHEI-2010, aMED, and DASH were significantly associated with lower pancreatic cancer risk (all P_trend < 0.05). Compared with the lowest quartile, HRs (95% CIs) of pancreatic cancer for the highest quartiles of AHEI-2010, aMED, and DASH scores were 0.65 (0.46-0.90), 0.57 (0.38-0.85), and 0.66 (0.46-0.95), respectively. These associations were more apparent among men. Overall, there was no statistically significant difference in the QDI-pancreatic cancer risk association between subgroups stratified by levels of body mass index, history of diabetes, and smoking status. Conclusions: Higher QDI scores were significantly associated with reduced risk of pancreatic cancer. Impact: The consistent results across multiple QDIs shows that adherence to a healthy diet may lower pancreatic cancer risk, suggesting that dietary modification may be a promising approach for primary prevention of pancreatic cancer.