Pancreatic cancer can be part of a family cancer syndrome, where an inherited family gene causes a number of different cancers to develop within the members of one family. Your risk of pancreatic cancer is higher if you carry the faulty breast cancer gene BRCA2. read more
This type of cancer is called pancreatic adenocarcinoma or pancreatic exocrine cancer. Rarely, cancer can form in the hormone-producing cells or the neuroendocrine cells of the pancreas. These types of cancer are called islet cell tumors, pancreatic endocrine cancer and pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. read more
Very importantly, the risk of pancreatic cancer drops close to normal in people who quit smoking. Simply put, cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of pancreatic cancer. Age: The risk of developing pancreatic cancer increases with age. Over 80% of pancreatic cancers develop between the ages of 60 and 80 years. read more
We don't know the exact cause of most pancreatic cancer, but a great deal of research is being done in this area. Learn about possible causes here. read more
While it is virtually impossible to tell what caused a specific person to develop pancreatic cancer, there are some important principles of cancer biology that can help us understand why pancreatic cancer develops, and large population-based studies help us understand the many risk factors for this disease. read more