Women younger than 55 years have a 2.4% higher incidence of pancreatic cancer vs. men
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The incidence of pancreatic cancer increased at a faster rate over time among women aged younger than 55 years compared with their male counterparts, according to research published in Gastroenterology.
“A previously published nationwide study by our team showed that the incidence of pancreatic cancer has been significantly increasing in younger women at a greater rate compared to younger men,” Yazan Abboud, MD, a postdoctoral research scientist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, told Healio. “However, the study was limited in such that it represented 36.7% of the U.S. population, and thus, the generalizability of the findings was somewhat limited.”
He continued, “With that in mind, our team was prompted to evaluate if the previous findings were generalizable to the U.S. population.”
Using the National Program of Cancer Registries — which represents nearly 65% of the U.S. population — Abboud and colleagues identified 454,611 patients (48.9% women) diagnosed with pancreatic cancer between 2001 and 2018. The overall age-adjusted incidence rate (aIR) was 12.18 per 100,000 (95% CI, 12.14-12.22) with sex-specific rates of 10.69 per 100,000 (95% CI, 10.64-10.73) among women and 13.95 per 100,000 (95% CI, 13.9-14.01) among men.
Researchers noted “significantly increasing” aIRs in women (average annual percentage change [AAPC] = 1.27%) and men (AAPC = 1.14%), with similar increases reported in both sexes in patients aged 55 years and older (AAPCs = 1.11% vs. 1.17%, respectively).
However, in patients younger than 55 years, researchers reported a greater increase in aIR in women compared with men (AAPCs = 2.36% vs. 0.62%). These results were more pronounced among Black women compared with Black men (AAPC difference = 2.23%) and among women with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma tumors located at the head of the pancreas (AAPC difference = 1.64% vs. 1.35%).
Mortality rates associated with pancreatic cancer were unchanged among women but declined among men (AAPC difference = 0.54%), researchers wrote.
“Our nationwide study covering the majority of the U.S. population presents epidemiologic data pointing to a notable and significant increase in the incidence trend of pancreatic cancer in younger women,” Srinivas Gaddam, MD, MPH, senior study author and associate director of pancreatic biliary research at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, said. “While our study does not provide data on the risk factors associated with the increase in pancreatic cancer incidence in younger women, our findings shed light on this emerging trend, aiming to guide future research toward a deeper understanding of the characteristics and risk factors of pancreatic cancer in younger women, with the ultimate goal of improving outcomes.”
Abboud added, “We hypothesize a significant exposure to known or yet-to-be-discovered population-based risk factors that would disproportionally affect younger women in the last few decades. Furthermore, future studies are needed to assess the histopathological characteristics of pancreatic cancer tumors in younger women, formulate early detection modalities, assess response to therapy and hopefully improve outcomes.”
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