A new study has found that high levels of bodily substances of selenium and nickel trace elements can be associated with the reduction of the risk of cancer of the pancreas, and that high levels of arsenic, cadmium and lead may increase the risk.
The study, published online December 19 in the journal Gut, included 118 patients with cancer of the pancreas and 399 patients with other diagnoses in several hospitals in Spain. Researchers analyzed samples of the nail with plasma mass spectrometry, a very sensitive technique for detection of trace elements.
After the control of the age, sex, smoking, diabetes and other factors, scientists have found that subjects with the highest levels of arsenic were at twice the risk of pancreatic cancer, compared to those with the lowest concentrations. Those who have high levels of cadmium were at three times the risk of pancreatic cancer, while those with the highest levels of lead were at six times the risk.
Those with the highest levels of nickel and selenium, on the other hand, were significantly more low risk of pancreatic cancer.
Dr Núria Malats, an epidemiologist at the Spanish National Cancer Research Center and author of the new study, said that it was the first to provide this kind of results with trace elements, and that this does not mean that people should take food supplements.
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