Source: Jeffrey Norris, UCSF Today
July 25, 2007

More Power to Population Studies in Pancreas Cancer Research

UCSF clinicians and researchers are joining with counterparts far and wide to conduct large studies that will yield the statistical power necessary to clearly identify factors associated with risk for pancreas cancer.

So far, the only undisputed factors known to increase one's chances of getting pancreas cancer are cigarette smoking -- which doubles risk -- and a strong family history of the disease.

Because pancreas cancer is rare, it takes a long time to conduct studies with enough patients to yield statistically meaningful results. The Pancreas Cancer Program at UCSF has joined with Seattle researchers at Group Health Cooperative and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, as well as UC Irvine researchers, to form the Western Pancreatic Cancer Consortium. As patients are enrolled in new studies, data will be collected similarly, so that they may be pooled for analysis.

UCSF Population Scientist Is a Pioneer

Much of the consortium's research will build on earlier studies by UCSF's Elizabeth Holly. Before the UCSF Pancreas Cancer Program was established, Holly had nearly finished collecting data for the largest-ever population study of pancreas cancer: a comparison of 600 diagnosed cases of pancreas cancer and 1,700 controls -- people who were demographically similar, but did not have pancreas cancer.

Cases for the National Cancer Institute (NCI)-sponsored study were identified through the Bay Area SEER cancer registry. Holly's research team contacted patients and controls, and asked individuals to participate in a survey. In many cases, the researchers also were able to study blood or tissue.

From an earlier analysis of the results, Holly concluded that allergies are likely to be somewhat protective against the disease. In addition, Holly and UCSF molecular epidemiologist John Wiencke identified genetic variations that can amplify a smoker's risk for the disease.

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