Increased pancreas cancer in a bio-technological research laboratory

Pancreatic cancer is extremely rare among people under 55 years old. Its prognosis is poor, and the causal background remains almost unresolved. A previous study observed an increased occurrence of pancreatic cancer in workers in a French biochemical laboratory.

During an approximate 10 year period in a Danish bio-chemical laboratory with about 50 stable employees, four cases of pancreatic cancer have been diagnosed at a mean age of 53 years. Approximately 0.02 cases should be expected if the laboratory employees had experienced the same rate of pancreatic cancer as that observed in the respective general Danish populations.

All the four cases had a long-term occupational history of exposure to carcinogens during the early bio-technology period.

Causal conclusions cannot be made yet, but observation of former and present workers in biotechnological laboratories and their cancer occurrence is warranted.