Dr. Khorana on Rates of Young-Onset Pancreatobiliary Adenocarcinoma

Alok Khorana, MD, professor of Medicine, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Sondra and Stephen Hardis chair in Oncology Research, vice-chair, Clinical Services of the Taussig Cancer Institute, director, the Gastrointestinal Malignancies Program at the Cleveland Clinic, discusses increasing rates of young-onset pancreatobiliary adenocarcinoma.

A retrospective analysis evaluated a cohort of patients to determine trends and characteristics of young-onset pancreatobiliary adenocarcinoma compared with average onset of the disease.

Investigators identified a 33% increase in the rate of young-onset pancreas and biliary cancer, Khorana says. A large increase in the incidence of pancreas and biliary cancers regardless of age has been seen, though the rising rates in younger patients is troubling, Khorana explains. Moreover, it was found that patients who are minorities, including African American and Hispanic patients, had a disproportionately higher rate of increase, Khorana adds.

Due to this overall rise, more research is needed to understand why rates of young-onset pancreatobiliary adenocarcinoma are increasing, Khorana concludes.