Hereditary pancreatitis and pancreatic carcinoma

Few risk factors for pancreatic cancer have emerged except for chronic pancreatitis. Recently, hereditary pancreatitis was estimated to carry a standardized incidence ratio of 53, a risk about 25 times higher than smoking. A review of the ongoing hereditary pancreatitis study of the Midwest Multicenter Pancreatic Study Group suggests that the risk of pancreatic cancer is related to long-standing pancreatitis rather than to the cationic trypsinogen mutations. No recommendations can be made on screening patients with hereditary pancreatitis for pancreatic cancer at this time. However, prospective data, serum, and pancreatic juice should be collected and banked on consenting patients at risk as part of prospective, multicenter trials so that evidence-based recommendations for hereditary pancreatitis and other types of chronic pancreatitis can be made in the future.