ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutritional Epidemiology
Ultra-processed food consumption and risk of oesophagus, stomach, and pancreatic cancers: a multi case-control study
Provisionally accepted
Laura Torres Collado1,2,3
Sandra González-Palacios1,2,3
Laura María Compañ-Gabucio1,2,3Carolina Ojeda-Belokon1,2,3Marielisa Gabriela Belisario-Ubeto1,2
Manuela Garcia De La Hera1,2,3
Alejandro Oncina-Canovas1,2,3*
Jesus Vioque1,2,3- 1Miguel Hernández University of Elche, Elche, Spain
- 2Instituto de Investigacion Sanitaria y Biomedica de Alicante, Alicante, Spain
- 3Centro de Investigacion Biomedica en Red de Epidemiologia y Salud Publica, Madrid, Spain
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Background: A high consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPF) has been associated with higher risk of gastrointestinal cancers, although this relationship has been insufficiently investigated. We evaluated the association between UPF consumption and oesophageal, stomach, and pancreatic cancers in a multi-case control study conducted in a Mediterranean area of Spain. Methods: Data were analysed for 1,218 participants from the PANESOES study, which included incident cases of oesophageal (n=193), stomach (n=412), and pancreatic (n=161) cancers, and 452 controls. Diet was assessed five years before the interview using validated food frequency questionnaire. UPF consumption was estimated in grams/day and as a percentage of total dietary intake using the NOVA classification system and then categorized in tertiles. Multinomial logistic regression was applied to estimate relative risk ratios (RRR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) adjusting for potential confounders. Results: UPF consumption in grams/day was positively associated with oesophageal and stomach cancers. Compared with the lowest tertile, the highest tertile of UPF consumption was associated with higher risk of oesophageal cancer (RRR=2.29; 95% CI: 1.37–3.82) and stomach cancer (RRR=1.56; 95% CI: 1.08–2.27). For stomach cancer, the highest consumption of ultra-processed dairy products (RRR=2.10; 95% CI: 1.43–2.82) and sweets/pastries (RRR=1.76; 95% CI: 1.24– 2.50) showed increased risks. Ultra-processed drinks and pre-cooked foods were associated with higher risk of oesophageal cancer. No associations were observed for pancreatic cancer. Conclusions: Higher UPF consumption was associated with increased risk of oesophageal and stomach cancers, particularly linked to specific UPF categories. Further research is recommended to confirm these results.
Keywords: Cancer, Oesophagus, Pancreas, Stomach, Ultra-processed food
Received: 10 Dec 2025; Accepted: 16 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Torres Collado, González-Palacios, Compañ-Gabucio, Ojeda-Belokon, Belisario-Ubeto, Garcia De La Hera, Oncina-Canovas and Vioque. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Alejandro Oncina-Canovas
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