Low-carbohydrate diets have become a popular approach for
weight loss in recent years. However, whether
low-carbohydrate diets are associated with the risk of
pancreatic cancer remains to be elucidated. Hence, we examined the association of
low-carbohydrate diets with the risk of
pancreatic cancer in a US population. A population-based cohort of 95 962 individuals was identified. A
low-carbohydrate-diet score was calculated to quantify adherence to this dietary pattern, with higher scores indicating greater adherence. Cox regression was used to calculate risk estimate for the association of the
low-carbohydrate-diet score with the risk of
pancreatic cancer. Subgroup analysis was used to identify the potential effect modifiers. After an average follow-up of 8.87 years (875856.9 person-years), we documented a total of 351
pancreatic cancer cases. In the fully adjusted model, the highest versus the lowest quartiles of the overall
low-carbohydrate-diet score were found to be associated with a reduced risk of
pancreatic cancer (hazard ratioquartile 4 versus 1: 0.61; 95% confidence interval: 0.45, 0.82; Ptrend < 0.001). Subgroup analysis found that the inverse association of
low-carbohydrate diets with the risk of
pancreatic cancer was more pronounced in individuals aged ≥65 years than in those aged <65 years (Pinteraction = 0.015). Similar results were obtained for animal and vegetable
low-carbohydrate-diet scores. In conclusion,
low-carbohydrate diets, regardless of the type of
protein and fat, are associated with a lower risk of
pancreatic cancer in the US population, suggesting that adherence to
low-carbohydrate diets may be beneficial for
pancreatic cancer prevention. Future studies should validate our findings in other populations.