Risk factors of pancreatic cancer and their possible uses in diagnostics.

Risk factors of pancreatic cancer and their possible uses in diagnostics. Neoplasma. 2020 Dec 23;: Authors: Lang J, Kunovský L, Kala Z, Trna J Abstract Pancreatic cancer (PC) is a form of malignancy of increasing incidence and poor prognosis, with an average of less than 10% of patients surviving 5 years after being diagnosed. The main reason for this unfavorable situation is the long asymptomatic course of the disease, and the absence of a simple screening method, typically leading to the late discovery of the disease. The development of the malignancy from the initial carcinogenesis into invasive pancreatic carcinoma takes approximately 10 years. However, the progression of pancreatic cancer from early into advanced stages can be, according to the latest studies, incredibly fast, just a few months. Early stages of pancreatic malignancy can be detected only by expensive, and sometimes invasive, diagnostic methods (CT, MR/MRCP, or EUS). Due to the current absence of a reliable non-invasive screening method, it is necessary to define a group of patients who have the highest risk of PC development, five to ten times higher risk compared to the regular population at a minimum. Risk factors combine in their effect; therefore, relative risks of PC development need to be summarized to obtain a total relative risk for each person. The main and non-influenceable risk factor in the development of PC is the increasing age. The other non-influ...
Source: Neoplasma - Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Tags: Neoplasma Source Type: research