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Risk factors

By Mayo Clinic staff

Factors that may increase your risk of pancreatic cancer include:

  • Smoking.
  • Being overweight or obese.
  • Personal or family history of chronic inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis).
  • Personal or family history of pancreatic cancer.
  • Family history of genetic syndromes that can increase cancer risk, including a BRCA2 gene mutation, Peutz-Jeghers syndrome, Lynch syndrome and familial atypical mole-malignant melanoma (FAMMM).
  • Older age. Pancreatic cancer occurs most often in older adults. Most people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer are in their 70s and 80s.
  • Being black. Pancreatic cancer occurs more frequently in blacks than in whites.

DS00357

April 12, 2008

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