TY - JOUR
T1 - Risk of pancreatic carcinoma in tropical calcifying pancreatitis
T2 - An epidemiologic study
AU - Chari, S. T.
AU - Mohan, V.
AU - Pitchumoni, C. S.
AU - Viswanathan, M.
AU - N. Madanagopalan, Madanagopalan
AU - Lowenfels, A. B.
PY - 1994/1
Y1 - 1994/1
N2 - To assess the risk of pancreatic cancer in sub-jects with tropical calcifying pancreatitis (TCP), we have followed 185 patients with TCP from the Diabetes Re-search Center in Madras, India for an average of 4.5 years. The diagnosis of TCP was based upon longstanding epigastric pain, laboratory tests, presence of pancreatic calculi, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) findings, and ultrasonography. During the follow-up period, 24 patients died from all causes, with 6 deaths (25%) from cancer of the pancreas. Three pancreatic cancers were biopsy positive. Average age at onset of pancreatic cancer was 45.6 ± 7.3 years, considerably younger than for Western populations.When compared with the background pancreatic cancer rate, subjects with TCP appear to have a significantly increased risk of pancreatic cancer: Relative risk = 100, 95% Cl = 37-218. Even under the most stringent assumptions (restricting the analysis to biopsy-proven cases, assuming that the true background rate of pancreatic cancer in Madras resembles high-risk Western populations, as-suming that tropical pancreatitis begins at birth) the risk is still elevated: Relative risk = 5, 95% Cl = 1.03-3-14.6. The exact mechanism linking various forms of pancreatitis to pancreatic cancer remains to be elucidated.
AB - To assess the risk of pancreatic cancer in sub-jects with tropical calcifying pancreatitis (TCP), we have followed 185 patients with TCP from the Diabetes Re-search Center in Madras, India for an average of 4.5 years. The diagnosis of TCP was based upon longstanding epigastric pain, laboratory tests, presence of pancreatic calculi, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) findings, and ultrasonography. During the follow-up period, 24 patients died from all causes, with 6 deaths (25%) from cancer of the pancreas. Three pancreatic cancers were biopsy positive. Average age at onset of pancreatic cancer was 45.6 ± 7.3 years, considerably younger than for Western populations.When compared with the background pancreatic cancer rate, subjects with TCP appear to have a significantly increased risk of pancreatic cancer: Relative risk = 100, 95% Cl = 37-218. Even under the most stringent assumptions (restricting the analysis to biopsy-proven cases, assuming that the true background rate of pancreatic cancer in Madras resembles high-risk Western populations, as-suming that tropical pancreatitis begins at birth) the risk is still elevated: Relative risk = 5, 95% Cl = 1.03-3-14.6. The exact mechanism linking various forms of pancreatitis to pancreatic cancer remains to be elucidated.
KW - Epidemiology
KW - Pancreatic carcinoma
KW - Tropical calcifying pancreatitis
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U2 - 10.1097/00006676-199401000-00009
DO - 10.1097/00006676-199401000-00009
M3 - Article
C2 - 8108373
AN - SCOPUS:0028140312
SN - 0885-3177
VL - 9
SP - 62
EP - 66
JO - Pancreas
JF - Pancreas
IS - 1
ER -