PANCREAS NEWS Familial Pancreatic Cancer: What’s New

About 90 % of all pancreatic cancers are ductal adenocarcinomas with an overall 5-year survival rate of less than 5%. The explanation as to why most pancreatic cancers arise from ductal cells has only come to light in the past few years. Most knowledge has been found at the molecular level which shows an increasing number of genetic and epigenetic alterations, in particular on growth factors and related pathways. Furthermore, basic researchers have identified molecular alterations which render cancer cells capable of invading the perineurium and the retroperitoneal space, thus, explaining the high rate of local recurrence and severe pai