Folate intake and pancreatic cancer risk: an overall and dose-response meta-analysis

Ten studies on dietary and supplemental folate intake and pancreatic cancer (4 case-control and 6 cohort studies) were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled RRs of pancreatic cancer for the highest vs lowest categories of dietary folate intake and supplemental folate intake were 0.66 (95% CI: 0.49-0.88) and 1.08 (95% CI, 0.82-1.41), respectively. The dose-response meta-analysis indicated that a 100 μg/day increment in dietary folate intake conferred a RR of 0.93 (95% CI: 0.90-0.97). These findings support the hypothesis that dietary folate may play a protective role in carcinogenesis of pancreatic cancer.