High-fat diet 'can accelerate pancreatic cancer'

The development of pancreatic cancer is accelerated if a high-fat or high-calorie diet is consumed, a study has suggested.

Researchers from the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, came to this conclusion after conducting a study using mice.

Some of the mice were fed a special high-fat/calorie diet and 90 per cent of these became obese, while all of these mice developed a resistance to insulin and inflammation in the pancreas.

Both insulin resistance and inflammation in the pancreas can stimulate the growth of cancer.

"Our results showed that, in mice, a diet high in fat and calories ... greatly enhanced pancreatic inflammation and pancreatic cancer development," confirmed researcher Dr Guido Eibl.

The researchers are now examining the role that inflammation produced by obesity plays in development of the cancer

They hope that agents such as antidiabetic drugs or fish oil could prevent this disease from developing.

Last week, however, a study from the Moffitt Cancer Centre claimed that cancer will never be eradicated, as it will always evolve to be resistant to treatment.

Find the nearest Barchester care home.