ABSTRACT
This chapter provides convincing experimental evidence that carcinogenesis in the exocrine pancreas can be modulated by diet. Animal models for pancreatic carcinogenesis have been developed and utilized in several studies that have shown that dietary factors may influence the experimental induction of pancreatic carcinomas. The effects of nutritional factors on the pancreas and on experimental carcinogenesis are more easily recognized in the laboratory where attention can be focused on a single factor under controlled conditions than in epidemiologic studies of human populations. P. M. Pour and co-workers have proposed that the hamster provides a better model than the rat for human pancreatic cancer, because the majority of human carcinomas are of ductal histologic type. Pancreatic atrophy and fibrosis has been described in chicks maintained on a selenium-deficient diet. Several reported epidemiological studies have evaluated the association of various risk factors with pancreatic carcinoma. Many legumes and other vegetables contain trypsin inhibitors and might be expected to promote pancreatic neoplasia.
