Pancreatic Disorders News

SAN FRANCISCO — A test using a monoclonal antibody to detect PAM4 protein and CA19-9 markers was able to detect 85% of patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, according to data presented at the 2012 ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.

Mutations in the ATM gene have been identified as a predisposition gene for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, according to data published online in Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

A review of published literature has found there is no link between intake of folate and the risk for pancreatic cancer.

2010 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium

The risk for developing pancreatic cancer increased sixfold compared to the general population for those people with multiple relatives with pancreatic cancer. Risk increased ninefold if one of those relatives had pancreatic cancer diagnosed younger than age 50.

A recent trend toward the centralization of cancer surgery at high-volume hospitals may pose a barrier for patients traveling long distances to receive quality cancer care.

Pancreatic cancer mortality rates have been higher among blacks; however, the risk is not attributable to currently known and accepted risk factors for the disease, such as smoking and obesity.

Elevated intake of fat of animal origin, particularly red meat and dairy, was associated with increased risk for pancreatic cancer, according to the findings from a prospective study.

After surgical resection for pancreatic cancer, reduced survival rate and node-positive pancreatic cancer were observed in patients with BMI >35, according a recent retrospective study.

Patients with type A, B or AB blood may be at an increased risk for developing incident pancreatic cancer, according to data from an analysis of two independent prospective cohort studies. This means that approximately 17% of pancreatic cancer cases were attributable to one of these blood types.