Familial Pancreatic Cancer Registry A study to help define risk factors for pancreatic cancer 
|
|
|
Smoking is the most generally accepted risk factor for cancer of the pancreas. Adenocarcinomas -- the glandular-cell growths that account for about 95 percent of pancreatic tumors -- are two to three times more common in heavy smokers than in nonsmokers.
Genetic alterations involved in pancreatic cancer include activation of the K-ras oncogene and inactivation of tumor-suppressor genes such as p16 and p53. Pancreatic cancer has the highest frequency of K-ras mutations among all human cancers. This frequency of K-ras mutations, which resembles those in bladder and lung cancers, may be associated with smoking.
Other possible risk factors include the following:
- Family history: About 10 percent of patients with pancreatic cancer report a family history of the disease. A few hereditary syndromes, including familial atypical multiple mole melanoma syndrome, familial breast cancer, Peutz-Jeghers syndrome, and hereditary pancreatitis account for a small percentage of pancreatic cancer cases. Mutations in the breast cancer susceptibility gene BRCA2 have been found in some families with familial pancreatic cancer.
- Diet: A diet high in meat and fats is possibly associated with a higher risk of pancreatic cancer. Recent research has suggested obesity and physical inactivity as additional risk factors.
- Advancing age: Most patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer are between the ages of 60 and 80. The disease can occur in younger people, however -- particularly those with a family history of the disease.
- Male gender: More men than women are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer; however, incidence has been rising in women in recent years.
- Race: African-Americans are more likely to develop pancreatic cancer than Hispanics, Asian-Americans, or white Americans, and currently have the highest pancreatic cancer rates in the world.
- Diabetes: There may be an association between pancreatic cancer and diabetes, although it has not been proven. Chronic pancreatitis has also been associated with pancreatic cancer, but the exact nature of the association is still under study.
- Environmental factors: Occupational exposure to carcinogens (e.g., asbestos, pesticides, dyes, and petrochemicals) has been associated with pancreatic cancers.
No screening tests are currently available for cancers of the pancreas. CA19-9, a molecule released into the blood cells by some pancreatic tumor cells, is sometimes useful in following the progression of the disease but it is only 80 percent accurate in diagnosing pancreatic cancer.
