A new study says that drinking two or more sodas per week nearly doubles the chance of getting pancreatic cancer over people who don't have soft drinks.

Pancreatic cancer is one of most deadly, a news release on the work said. Only 5 percent of people who are diagnosed are alive five years later.

Mark Pereira of the University of Minnesota said that people who consume soft drinks on a regular basis tend to have a poor behavioral profile, but that the drinks may have a unique effect on pancreatic cancer.

"The high levels of sugar in soft drinks may be increasing the level of insulin in the body, which we think contributes to pancreatic cancer cell growth," he said.

The study followed more than 60,000 people in Singapore for 14 years. There were 140 cases of pancreatic cancer in the group during that time. That's less than 2 percent of the people. The rate of the cancer was 87 percent higher in people who drink at least two soft drinks a week.

That group actually averaged more than five drinks each week.

The news release said there was no relationship between pancreatic cancer and people who drank fruit juice.

Susan Mayne of the Yale Cancer said noted in a news release promoting the study that it could be limited by the small number of cases and the poor other health behaviors the cancer patients engaged in.

The report appears in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.