What is Hereditary (Familial) Pancreatic Cancer?
Today,
oncology investigators and clinicians agree that at least 10% of all
pancreatic cancers are inherited. This means that pancreatic cancer has a
tendency to run in certain families, and scientists want to know why.
The risk of developing pancreatic cancer increases 2-fold for a person
who has one first-degree relative (mother, father, brother, sister) with
the disease. Having multiple affected members increases risk even more.
The term Familial Pancreatic Cancer (FPC) is for families with
2 or more family members with pancreatic adenocarcinoma (the most common form of pancreatic cancer).
What are Familial Registries and Why are They Important?
Gathering
information from families with a history of pancreatic cancer offers an
opportunity to study the cause of cancer of the pancreas. This
information is helping to devise new ways to diagnose pancreatic cancers
in earlier stages, and ultimately, to develop better treatments for the
disease. These registries are research-based. While your participation
in one of these registries may help investigators learn more about
familial pancreatic cancer, your participation in a registry does not
substitute for clinical care by your own doctors.
What are Surveillance Programs?
A
number of research programs studying how best to screen for early
pancreatic pre-cancer have also been created. These surveillance
programs differ throughout the United States, and each program designs
its own research and clinical protocols. For example, some involve
periodic screening of individuals with an increased risk of pancreatic
cancer using endoscopic ultrasound (EUS). Just as is true for family
research registries, your participation in a surveillance program does
not substitute for clinical care by your own doctors. All Surveillance
Programs and Familial Registries share a common goal: To learn more
about the biological cause of familial pancreatic cancer in the hopes of
developing early detection strategies and better treatments for the
disease.
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