Pancreatic Cancer Risk Factors

While nobody knows the exact cause of pancreatic cancer, the following risk factors are known to increase a person’s chance of developing the disease.

Age
The likelihood of developing pancreatic cancer increases with age. Most pancreatic cancers occur in people over the age of 60.

Smoking
Cigarette smokers are two or three times more likely than nonsmokers to develop pancreatic cancer.

Diabetes
Pancreatic cancer occurs more often in people who have diabetes than in people who do not.

Being male
More men than women are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Being African-American
African-Americans are more likely than Asians, Hispanics or whites to get pancreatic cancer.

Family history
The risk for developing pancreatic cancer triples if a person's mother, father, sister or brother had the disease. Also, a family history of colon or ovarian cancer increases the risk of pancreatic cancer.

Chronic pancreatitis
Chronic pancreatitis is a painful condition of the pancreas. Some
evidence suggests that chronic pancreatitis may increase the risk of pancreatic cancer.

Source: National Cancer Institute