Pancreatic Cancer and Gene Mutations for Lynch Syndrome

An estimated 10% of adenocarcinomas of the pancreatic duct are inherited. Researchers sought to quantify risk for pancreatic cancer in families with Lynch syndrome, an inherited condition that is caused by specific mismatch repair (MMR) gene mutations and that is associated with colorectal cancer and other neoplasms. The researchers analyzed cancer registry data from 6342 individuals (147 probands, 1017 first-degree relatives, and 5178 other relatives) from 147 families with germline MMR gene mutations.

Forty-seven cases of pancreatic cancer (21 men and 26 women) from 31 families were identified. Although the median age at cancer diagnosis did not differ significantly by sex (men, 51.5; women, 56.5), 50% of the men but only 22% of the women …