Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Multicenter Study
. 2023 Feb;12(3):2505-2513.
doi: 10.1002/cam4.5094. Epub 2022 Jul 31.

Does acute pancreatitis herald pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma? A multicenter electronic health research network study

Ritu R Singh  1   2 , Alison P Klein  1   3 , Neil R Sharma  2 , Eileen M O'Reilly  4   5
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Does acute pancreatitis herald pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma? A multicenter electronic health research network study

Ritu R Singh et al. Cancer Med. 2023 Feb.

Abstract

Background and objectives: High mortality in pancreas ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is related to delayed diagnosis and lack of cost-effective early detection strategies. Retrospective studies have demonstrated an association between PDAC and acute pancreatitis (AP). Herein, we explore the incidence of PDAC in patients with non-biliary and non-alcoholic AP.

Methods: A population-based, retrospective cohort study was conducted utilizing TriNetX (Cambridge, MA). Patients ≥40 years with AP (ICD-10-CM code: K85) and without biliary AP (K85.1), alcohol-induced AP (K85.2) or chronic pancreatitis (K86.0, K86.1), were identified. The primary outcome was incidence of PDAC (C25) in patients at defined intervals following AP. We compared the rate of early-stage diagnosis (stage 1-2) and surgical resection among patients with and without preceding AP.

Results: The incidence of PDAC ranged from 2.16% (1 year) to 3.43% (5 years). Patients with PDAC and AP in preceding year were more likely to undergo surgical resection relative to those without AP (10.1% vs. 6.3%, risk ratio 1.62: 95% confidence interval, CI 1.47-1.79). Early-stage diagnosis of PDAC was more frequent in patients with preceding AP; however, difference was insignificant (p = 0.48; 95% CI 0.64-2.58).

Conclusion: AP is infrequently associated with PDAC and can precede a diagnosis of PDAC in a minority of patients without another known etiology of pancreatitis. Patients with a recent AP are more likely to undergo surgical resection of PDAC and a trend toward diagnosis at an earlier stage compared to patients with PDAC and without AP. The impact of AP-related PDAC on survival is unknown.

Keywords: acute pancreatitis; database; pancreas ductal adenocarcinoma; pancreatic neoplasm.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Ritu R. Singh: None; Neil R. Sharma: Consultant for Boston Scientific, Medtronic, Mauna Kea, Steris medical; Eileen M. O'Reilly: Research Funding to MSK: Genentech/Roche, Celgene/BMS, BioNTech, AstraZeneca, Arcus, Elicio, Parker Institute; Consulting/DSMB: Cytomx Therapeutics (DSMB), Rafael Therapeutics (DSMB), Seagen, Boehringer Ingelheim, BioNTech, Ipsen, Merck, IDEAYA, Novartis, AstraZeneca, Noxxon, BioSapien, Novartis, Cend Therapeutics, Thetis, Autem, Agios (spouse), Genentech‐Roche (spouse), Eisai (spouse).

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Consort flow diagram of database search and results.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
(A) Incidence of pancreatic adenocarcinoma in patients with acute pancreatitis. (B) Probability of developing pancreatic adenocarcinoma each year after acute pancreatitis.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Image depicting location of pancreatic adenocarcinoma within the pancreas in patients with acute pancreatitis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Siegel RL, Miller KD, Fuchs HE, Jemal A. Cancer statistics, 2021. CA Cancer J Clin. 2021;71(1):7‐33. - PubMed
    1. Arnold M, Rutherford MJ, Bardot A, et al. Progress in cancer survival, mortality, and incidence in seven high‐income countries 1995‐2014 (ICBP SURVMARK‐2): a population‐based study. Lancet Oncol. 2019;20(11):1493‐1505. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Arrington AK, Hsu CH, Schaefer KL, O'Grady CL, Khreiss M, Riall TS. Survival after margin‐positive resection in the era of modern chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer: do patients still benefit? J Am Coll Surg. 2021;233:100‐109. - PubMed
    1. Watson MD, Miller‐Ocuin JL, Driedger MR, et al. Factors associated with treatment and survival of early stage pancreatic cancer in the era of modern chemotherapy: an analysis of the National Cancer Database. J Pancreat Cancer. 2020;6(1):85‐95. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Andersen DK, Korc M, Petersen GM, et al. Diabetes, pancreatogenic diabetes, and pancreatic cancer. Diabetes. 2017;66(5):1103‐1110. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types