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Meta-Analysis
. 2021 Nov 3;18(21):11556.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph182111556.

Dietary Fiber Intake and Risk of Pancreatic Cancer: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies

Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Dietary Fiber Intake and Risk of Pancreatic Cancer: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies

Daniele Nucci et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

The burden of pancreatic cancer varies greatly across countries, with the number of deaths, incident cases, and disability-adjusted life years more than doubling in recent years, and with high-income countries having the highest incidence and mortality rates. We conducted this systematic review with meta-analysis with the goal of summarizing the current evidence on dietary fiber intake and its role in reducing the risk of pancreatic cancer, given the importance of identifying risk factors. This systematic review followed the guidelines of the Cochrane Collaboration and the Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses 2020. The structured literature search was conducted on PubMed/Medline and Scopus, combining free text words and medical subject headings. Our review contained 18 records at the end of the process. Our results show that dietary fiber intake reduces the risk of pancreatic cancer. When the analysis was differentiated according to the type of fiber considered, sub-grouped by gender (reduction of around 60% among women), and when case-control studies were conducted, the strength of the association increased. Clinicians and policymakers should improve interventions to raise the population's awareness regarding the consumption of high-fiber diets, both in practice and in terms of public health policy.

Keywords: cancer risk; diet; dietary fiber; meta-analysis; pancreas; pancreatic cancer; systematic review.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart of the study selection process.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(a) Forest plot and (b) Funnel plot of the meta-analysis comparing dietary fiber intake (lower v. higher intake) and risk of pancreatic cancer (fixed effect model).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Meta-regression plot for (a) the fixed effect model and (b) the random effect model.

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