A prospective study of coffee intake and pancreatic cancer: results from the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study

Background: Evidence evaluating the association between type of coffee intake (caffeinated, decaffeinated) and risk of pancreatic cancer is limited. Methods: In the US NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study, we used Cox proportional hazards regression to estimate hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for coffee intake and risk of pancreatic cancer among 457 366 US adults. Results: Over 4 155 256 person-years of follow-up, 1541 incident first primary pancreatic cancers occurred. Following detailed adjustment for tobacco smoking history, risk estimates for coffee drinking were not statistically significant; compared with never drinkers of coffee, the hazard ratios (95% CI) were 1.05 (0.85-1.30), 1.06 (0.86-1.31), 1.03 (0.85-1.25), 1.00 (0.79-1.25), and 1.24 (0.93-1.65) for <1, 1, 2-3, 4-5, and >= 6 cups per day, respectively (P-value for trend 0.46). The observed null association was consistent across all examined strata (sex, smoking status, coffee caffeination, and prevalent diabetes). Conclusions: In a prospective study of coffee intake with the largest number of pancreatic cancer cases to date, we did not observe an association between total, caffeinated, or decaffeinated coffee intake and pancreatic cancer.