Article Text
Statistics from Altmetric.com
Pancreatic adenocarcinoma is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the USA. Although predominantly a cancer of the elderly, approximately 20% of patients are diagnosed under the age of 60 years. Younger patients are likely the best candidates for early surgical intervention, and patients at risk for young onset cancer comprise a logical focus for screening or prevention.
Carriers of mutations in the gene that encodes the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) are associated with chronic idiopathic pancreatitis.1 Chronic pancreatitis, in turn, increases the risk for pancreatic cancer by 26-fold.2 Therefore, we hypothesised that mutations in CFTR may confer a higher risk of pancreatic cancer.
From October 2000 to April 2004, pancreatic cancer patients seen at the Mayo Clinic were ultra rapidly recruited to our study, with more than 75% of all such patients seen at the Mayo …
Footnotes
-
Conflict of interest: None declared.