Medical Conditions: Chronic pancreatitis, acute pancreatitis, diabetes (long-term and new-onset), cirrhosis, Helicobacter pylori infection, human immunodeficiency virus ( HIV) infection, hepatitis B, cystic fibrosis, obesity. Race/Ethnicity: Black, Ashkenazi-Jewish descent. Risk factors for pancreatic cancer are identifiable in approximately 40% of cases, and include (but are not limited to) the following: Pancreatic cancer is slightly more common in men than women, but this gap has narrowed in recent years. The median age for death as a result of pancreatic cancer is 73 years of age (4). The median age for diagnosis of pancreatic cancer is 71, with 75% of cases diagnosed between the ages of 55 and 84. By 2030, researchers project that pancreatic cancer will become the 2 nd leading cause of cancer related death in the US after lung cancer, surpassing colorectal, breast, and prostate cancer (14). Approximately 96% of these cases will be PDAC (16). It is estimated that in 2015 the above figures will rise to 48,960 new cases and 40,560 deaths attributable to pancreatic cancer. Furthermore, the incidence of pancreatic cancer is rising. Despite this, pancreatic cancer was the 4 th most common cause of cancer-related death (15). Pancreatic cancer was the 12 th most common type of cancer in the US in 2014, representing just 2.8% of all new cancer cases. It was estimated that 46,420 new cases and 39,590 deaths were attributable to pancreatic cancer in the United States in 2014, of which PDAC represents the vast majority.That the number of deaths per year nearly equals the number of new cases per year highlights the lethality of this disease. This overview will not discuss cancer that arises in cystic lesions of the pancreas, nor will it discuss pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, as these variants have a different biology and prognosis. The following overview will discuss the epidemiology and tumor biology of PDAC, as well as important information for patients and family including diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis. Despite our advancing knowledge of the tumor biology of PDAC, improvement in diagnosis and management, and the rise of centers specialized in the care of patients with PDAC, the prognosis remains strikingly poor (4,17). Complete surgical removal of the tumor remains the only chance for cure, however 80-90% of patients have disease that is surgically incurable at the time of clinical presentation (15). PDAC is an aggressive and difficult malignancy to treat. Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is the most common malignancy of the pancreas.
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