Causes of Pancreatic Cancer

As with most cancers, the causes of pancreatic cancer are related to damage to DNA (mutations) that occur in the cells of the pancreas. These mutations can lead to a cell which is able to grow uncontrollably, becoming a tumor.

The specific causes of most pancreatic cancers is not known but there are many known risk factors which increase the risk of developing cancer of the pancreas. While these risk factors are not the direct cause of the cancer, they are associated with this disease and clearly can be at least a part of the cause.

Risk Factors for Pancreatic Cancer:

Smoking: Smoking increases the risk of many cancers, not just lung cancer. Pancreatic cancer is more common in smokers, doubling the risk.

Males: Although both men and women can develop cancer of the pancreas, it is slightly more common in men.

Chronic pancreatitis: Pancreatitis is inflammation of the pancreas, which most commonly occurs in some patients with gallstones and from excessive alcohol intake. Patients who have this history of chronic inflammation of the pancreas are at increased risk of pancreatic cancer.

Diabetes mellitus: A long history of diabetes increases the risk.

Family history: A family history of pancreatic cancer, particularly in individuals who have inherited mutations (such as BRCA2, FAMMM, PalB2 or Peutz-Jeghers), increases the risk for this cancer.

Others: African American race, Ashkenazi Jewish background, obesity, and diet (particularly high in meats, cholesterol and nitrosamines) have all been shown to increase the risk for pancreatic cancer to some extent.