Does pancreatic cancer run in the family?

Pancreatic cancer is a highly malignant tumor with a poor prognosis. The incidence of pancreatic cancer has increased significantly in recent years. Many patients' families ask the same question: Is pancreatic cancer hereditary?

Medical research shows that the vast majority of pancreatic cancer patients have no relevant family history, but about 10% of patients are hereditary. For every direct relative, such as a parent or sibling, who has pancreatic cancer, the risk of pancreatic cancer increases by 40%. A US research team, through cooperation with a family with a genetic history of pancreatic cancer in the Northwest region of the United States, has determined that a gene on the long arm of chromosome 4 in the human body can cause pancreatic cancer.

However, in clinical practice, the medical community in my country is more inclined to believe that the occurrence of pancreatic cancer is the result of the combined action of multiple factors. People over 40 years old with the following symptoms need to be highly vigilant about the possibility of pancreatic cancer: unexplained obstructive jaundice; unexplained weight loss greater than 10%; unexplained upper abdominal or lower back pain; unexplained indigestion symptoms; sudden onset of diabetes without inducing factors; sudden unexplained steatorrhea; onset of spontaneous pancreatitis, etc.

In real life, pancreatic cancer is too difficult to identify. Most pancreatic cancer patients are already in the middle and late stages with metastasis when they are discovered. Although 25% of patients can undergo surgery when they are discovered, the surgery is limited by the location of the pancreas and the surrounding important organs and blood vessels. Even if the surgeon can cut down the pancreatic cancer tree, he cannot dig out the roots underneath. Therefore, the curative effect of surgical resection is not good, and its 5-year survival rate is only 4.5%-15%. At present, with the development of radiotherapy technology, modern precision radiotherapy has brought hope to patients with pancreatic cancer metastasis who have nowhere to seek treatment. The latest international research has confirmed that the use of volumetric arc intensity modulated radiotherapy system on the basis of chemotherapy, high-precision, high-dose radiotherapy, can prolong the average survival of patients with advanced pancreatic cancer metastasis, and improve the quality of life of patients to a certain extent, and patients with poor physical conditions can also tolerate it.