What Causes Pancreatic Cancer? Can It Be Prevented?
We still do not know exactly what causes most cases of pancreatic cancer. Several risk factors have been linked to the disease. A risk factor is something that affects a person’s chance of getting a disease such as cancer. Some risk factors, such as smoking, can be controlled. Others, like a person’s age or race, can’t be changed. But keep in mind that having one or more risk factors does not mean that a person will get the disease. Risk Factors for Pancreatic Cancer Age: The risk of this cancer goes up with age. Almost 90% of patients are older than 55. Gender: Men have this cancer more often than women. Race: African Americans are more likely to have this cancer than are whites. Smoking: The risk of this cancer is higher among smokers. Heavy smoking raises the risk 2 to 3 times. About 3 out of 10 cases of pancreatic cancer are thought to be caused by smoking. Diet: There may be a link with eating a lot of red meat and pork, especially processed meat (such as sausage and bacon). Obesi
