High risk factors of pancreatic carcinoma

Abstract

Over the past decades, cancer has become one of the toughest challenges for health professionals. The epidemiologists are increasingly directing their research efforts on various malignant tumor worldwide. Of note, incidence of cancers is on the rise more quickly in developed countries. Indeed, great endeavors have to be made in the control of the life-threatening disease. As we know it, pancreatic cancer (PC) is a malignant disease with the worst prognosis. While little is known about the etiology of the PC and measures to prevent the condition, so far, a number of risk factors have been identified. Genetic factors, pre-malignant lesions, predisposing diseases and exogenous factors have been found to be linked to PC. Genetic susceptibility was observed in 10% of PC cases, including inherited PC syndromes and familial PC. However, in the remaining 90%, their PC might be caused by genetic factors in combination with environmental factors. Nonetheless, the exact mechanism of the two kinds of factors, endogenous and exogenous, working together to cause PC remains poorly understood. The fact that most pancreatic neoplasms are diagnosed at an incurable stage of the disease highlights the need to identify risk factors and to understand their contribution to carcinogenesis. This article reviews the high risk factors contributing to the development of PC, to provide information for clinicians and epidemiologists.

Identification of Prognostic Immune-Related Genes in Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma and Establishment of a Prognostic Nomogram: A Bioinformatic Study

“…An important reason for the low survival rate of pancreatic cancer is that most patients are diagnosed at the end stage of the disease [5]. Smoking, high-fat diet, obesity, alcoholism, diabetes, and chronic pancreatitis are risk factors for pancreatic cancer [6][7][8]. The pathogenesis of familial pancreatic cancer is closely related to CDKN2A, BRCA1, BRCA2, and PALB2 [9].…”

Magnetic resonance elastography of the pancreas: Measurement reproducibility and relationship with age

“…Pancreatic cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States, and has one of the worst 5 year survival rates of all cancers (1,2). One important factor for this poor survival is difficulty detecting cancers early with currently available diagnostic methods (3). Similarly, the early diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis (CP) is challenging, and patients often develop irreversible pancreatic insufficiency prior to clinical diagnosis (4).…”

Familial Pancreatic Cancer

“…These predispositions can be escalated by other environmental influences such as smoking [66]. Additional risk factors for developing PDAC can be caused by demographic changes or environment [26].…”