Epidemiology of pancreatic cancer

This paper reviews recent trends in pancreatic cancer worldwide. The mortality rate for pancreatic cancer is high in Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Ireland, and some other European countries, but it is low in Asian and southern European countries. A positive correlation was observed between geographical latitude and the mortality of pancreatic cancer. This mortality has been declining in most countries except Czechoslovakia, Federal Republic of Germany, Japan, Italy, France, and Spain; the trend is more marked in males than females. The reasons for the declining trend of pancreatic cancer in these countries are not clear, but a relationship is postulated between its decline and the declining trend in the smoking rate, especially among males. Risk factors for pancreatic cancer that have been identified from previous studies are reviewed. Recent studies suggest that occasional drinking of coffee might offer protection from pancreatic cancer.