Association between vitamin A, retinol and carotenoid intake and pancreatic cancer risk: Evidence from epidemiologic studies

Pancreatic cancer is a devastating disease with poor prognosis. The association between vitamin A, retinol and carotenoid intake and the risk of pancreatic cancer occurrence remains controversial, and therefore it is necessary to make a meta-analysis to clarify the association between vitamin A, retinol and carotenoid intake and pancreatic cancer risk. In the present study, PubMed and EMBASE databases were used to identify qualified studies. The association between dietary vitamin A, retinol and carotenoids was estimated by pooled odds ratios (ORs) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs). It was found that there was an inverse correlation between vitamin A, beta-carotene and lycopene intake and the risk of pancreatic cancer (for vitamin A, pooled OR = 0.85, 95%CI = 0.74–0.97, P = 0.015; for beta-carotene, pooled OR = 0.78, 95%CI = 0.66–0.92, P = 0.003; for lycopene, pooled OR = 0.84, 95%CI = 0.73–0.97, P = 0.020), which was more prominent in case-control study subgroup. In conclusion, dietary vitamin A, beta-carotene and lycopene might inversely correlate with pancreatic cancer.