The inherited genetic component of sporadic pancreatic adenocarcinoma

Abstract

Pancreatic cancer, like many other complex diseases, has genetic and environmental components to its etiology. It is likely that relatively common genetic variants with modest effects on pancreatic cancer risk play an important role in both familial and sporadic forms of the disease, either individually or in interaction with environmental factors. The relatively high frequency of such variants means that they could potentially explain a substantial portion of disease risk. Here we summarize the findings published to date from genetic association studies1. In general, very few low-penetrance variants have been identified and those that have require replication in independent studies. Possibl..