NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – The risk of pancreatic adenocarcinoma is increased after the occurrence of certain other primary cancers, researchers report in the September 1st online Cancer.
“Risk of pancreatic cancer should be assessed taking into account several predispositions, including environmental/lifestyle habits such as cigarette smoking, family history of syndromic cancers and clustering of cancers, and personal history of associated cancers,” Dr. Harold Frucht from Columbia University and New York Presbyterian Hospital, New York told Reuters Health in an email.
Dr. Frucht and colleagues used data from the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program to investigate whether certain primary malignancies are associated with an increased risk of subsequent pancreatic adenocarcinoma and the extent to which such risk varies with age at onset of the first malignancy.
Among 1,618,834 individuals diagnosed with a primary malignancy, 4013 were diagnosed with a primary pancreatic adenocarcinoma at least 2 years after the initial diagnosis.
For patients diagnosed with a primary malignancy between ages 20 and 49 years, the risk of pancreatic adenocarcinoma was increased significantly after malignancies of the right side of the colon, the hepatic flexure, the hepatobiliary tract, breast, testes, uterine cervix, and hematopoietic system.
Among patients diagnosed between 50 and 64 years with a primary malignancy, the risk of pancreatic adenocarcinoma was significantly increased after malignancies of the hepatic flexure, pharynx, stomach, bladder, and lung/bronchus.
For patients diagnosed after age 65 with a primary malignancy, the risk of subsequent pancreatic adenocarcinoma was increased significantly after cancers of the biliary system, stomach, hepatic flexure, and uterus.
The prior diagnosis of rectal cancer in the oldest age group was associated with a significant reduction in the risk of subsequent pancreatic adenocarcinoma, whereas cancers of the small intestine, ovary, prostate, adrenal, thyroid, and brain, as well as melanoma, were not significantly associated with the risk of pancreatic adenocarcinoma in any age group.
“An increased awareness of the association between pancreatic cancer and other malignancies may aid future pancreas risk-stratification strategies and cancer surveillance efforts,” the authors conclude.
“We continue to collect data from our ongoing Pancreatic Cancer Prevention and Genetics Program, and registry in order to learn more about the risks of pancreatic cancer for individuals and to intervene so that we can prevent and detect early pancreas lesions,” Dr. Frucht said.
Reference:
Cancer 1 September 2011.
