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Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma

1K views 1 reply 2 participants last post by  Noa2013 
#1 ·
In FA it states that the major cause of chronic pancreatitis is alcohol and idiopathic.
3-4 lines down it says that the major risk factors for pancreatic adenocarcinoma are:

Tobacco use (but not EtOH)
Chronic pancreatitis
Age
Jewish and African-american males

Now it would make sense to me that since alcohol is a major cause of chronic pancreatitis it would also be at least a minor risk factor for adenocarcinoma.

Am I to understand that chronic pancreatitis due to alcohol abuse is different then other types of chronic pancreatitis? or that there's something wrong in FA?
 
#2 · (Edited)
Hahaha, that was a little bit...confusing. I'll try my best.

Chronic pancreatitis, is as the name implies, chronic inflammation and atrophy of the pancreas. THAT, is a risk factor for pancreatic adenocarcinomas.
You are right in saying that alcohol one of the major causes of chronic pancreatitis, but considering how only 3% of Alcoholics go on to develop it, I wouldn't think of alcohol as a risk factor for Pancreatic adenocarcinoma. It's quite an indirect and minor one.

Make sure you're comfortable with the different causes of chronic pancreatitis (alcohol, cystic fibrosis, hyperlipidemia, etc). They have different pathophysiologies, but they all lead to the same outcome.
 
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