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Updated: 12/12/06 08:23 AM |
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A number of different cancers may involve the pancreas. These include pancreatic adenocarcinoma (the most common cancer involving the pancreas), islet tumors of the pancreas, and cancers of the bile duct and duodenum. Pancreatic adenocarcinoma is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the United States. It appears to be increasing in frequency and in many cases has a genetic predisposition. It is clearly hereditary in 5-10% of cases; the risk of pancreatic cancer is increased 3-fold if one first-degree relative is affected. Having multiple affected members increases the risk even more, so that some family members have a 50-50 chance of inheriting pancreatic cancer. How will we provide cancer surveillance for these people who have family members who developed the disease?
A team of doctors at the University of Washington has developed a multidisciplinary surveillance program for the early detection of pancreatic cancer and its precursors in patients with a familial predisposition for pancreatic cancer. This surveillance program is the first of its kind in the world. The approach requires the expertise and dedication of specialists who are trained in endoscopy, surgery, and pathology of the pancreas. These specialists at the UW are among only a handful of physicians worldwide with expertise and experience in this arena of medicine. We are now able to identify patients who have pancreatic pre-cancer and warrant surgical intervention, to prevent invasive cancer and cure them of their early disease. At present, almost all symptomatic pancreatic cancer is advanced and incurable when diagnosed. In hereditary pancreatic cancer we have shown that pre-cancer or early cancer diagnosed while asymptomatic is curable.
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