Total Nut, Tree Nut, Peanut, and Peanut Butter Consumption and the Risk of Pancreatic Cancer in the Netherlands Cohort Study

Year Published: 2018

Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev

Nieuwenhuis L, van den Brandt PA

Pancreatic cancer is the 7th leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide. This was a longitudinal study in the Netherlands that administered baseline food frequency questionnaries in 1986, and then followed 120,852 men and women for 20.3 years to examine cases of pancreatic cancer. Authors specifically examined the relationship between tree nuts, peanuts, and peanut butter consumption with pancreatic cancer.

Key Findings: Results showed that peanut butter intake was associated with a significantly reduced risk of microscopically confirmed pancreatic cancer in men who consumed at least 5 grams/day of peanut butter vs those who consumed none (p=0.047). The authors also reported trends toward reduced risk of pancreatic cancer with total nut, tree nut, and peanut consumption, but these results were not significant. This study was one of only 3 that looked at the relationship between nut consumption and pancreatic cancer, but the other two studies did not look at peanut butter or males specifically.