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The CancerWeb Report, What's New In Cancer
Pancreatic Cancer: November 1995
Last modified on:
Tuesday, April 20, 1999 12:03:10
Copyright © 1994-2008, Information Ventures, Inc.
Pancreatic Cancer among black Americans -
The risk of pancreatic cancer among black Americans is consistently
about 50% higher than among whites in the US. In addition, there
is major uncertainty as to whether alcohol consumption is related
to pancreatic cancer, with only 15 of 36 studies showing such a
relationship. In an article in the November 1, 1995 issue of Cancer
Research, a group led by the Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Program of the National Cancer Institute, described findings from
a study of 307 white and 179 black cancer patients, compared to
1164 and 945 white and black matched controls. The results
suggested a relation between heavy drinking and pancreatic cancer
with odds ratios (risk factors) of 2.2 and 1.4 for black and
white men, respectively, drinking at least 57 drinks per week.
In black women, those having 8 to 21 or 21 or more drinks per
week had odds ratios for pancreatic cancer of 1.8 and 2.5,
respectively, while white women showed no increased risk. In
general, blacks had a significantly greater risk associated with
heavy drinking than did whites.
Expression of erbB-3 - In pancreatic cancer, the erbB-2 gene is associated with a tumor
type more resembling normal tissue (more differentiated is the
term) that does not progress rapidly. A study from the
University of Irvine in California, published in the November, 1995
issue of Clinical Cancer Research, established that expression of
a related gene, erbB-3, on the other hand, is associated with an
aggressive behavior of the tumor. The presence of erbB-3 was
correlated with advanced tumor stage and shorter postoperative
survival. In such tumors there was a 6.7 fold increase in
expression of erbB-3 as compared with the normal pancreas.
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