Table 2.

Summarization of the Studies on Trace Minerals and PC

Trace Minerals	Findings
Iron	In an exploratory analysis in the US, it was found that there is no association between iron intake and the risk of PC.56 This was also reported by the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort on studying the association between total iron and heme-iron and the risk of PC.101
Zinc	Li and Gai97 conducted a meta-analysis that included seven studies to investigate the association between zinc intake and the risk of PC. Their results indicated the protective role of zinc against the risk of PC. In addition, they found that the risk of PC significantly decreased in the group with the highest zinc intake as the PC risk for the highest versus the lowest categories of zinc intake was (RR= 0.798, 95% CI: 0.621–0.984).
Chromium	Most of the studies confirm the significant role of chromium in enhancing insulin action and improving glucose tolerance and such roles require a healthy pancreas.98 Another study indicated the antioxidant capabilities of chromium in reducing oxidative stress.99
Iodine	Epidemiological studies found a relationship between thyroid dysfunction and pancreas pathology and that thyroiditis could increase the risk of PC.100 Therefore, adequate iodine intake is associated with normal thyroid hormone levels and normal pancreatic function which may reduce the risk of PC.101
Selenium	Several studies indicated that a high intake of selenium was associated with a reduced risk of PC.102–104
Lead, cadmium and arsenic	Lead, cadmium and arsenic were significantly associated with increased risks of PC in the highest quartile.102
Nickel	Nickel was inversely associated with the risk of PC with (OR = 0.27, 95% CI: 0.12 to 0.59).102