Case-Control Study of Genetic and Environmental Risk Factors for Pancreatic Carcinoma

胰腺癌是发达国家癌症死亡的第四大常见原因，男性的发病率比女性高约60%。在澳大利亚，每年大约有1800人被诊断出患有胰腺癌，死亡人数也差不多。5年生存率不到5%，大多数患者在一年内死亡。由于疾病在诊断时处于晚期，手术通常是不可能的，化疗在很大程度上是无效的。为了制定预防这种致命癌症的策略，更好地了解胰腺癌的病因至关重要。目前，人们对胰腺癌的病因知之甚少。家族史和吸烟可能占大约30%的病例，但其余的病因不明。这项研究将评估一个新的假设，即胃酸过多可能是由细菌感染引起的，可能会增加患胰腺癌的风险。我们将包括被诊断患有胰腺癌的人（病例），并将这些人与从选举名册中选出的从未被诊断患有胰腺癌的人（对照组）相匹配。参与者将被问及一系列关于饮食、吸烟、职业和病史的详细问题。我们将采集血液，寻找针对这种细菌的抗体，并检查特定的基因，我们将在病例和对照组中比较所有这些因素。这是澳大利亚第一个关于胰腺癌的大型研究之一，我们将采取综合方法来研究遗传和暴露于环境因素之间的相互作用。

Pancreatic carcinoma is the fourth most common cause of cancer death in developed countries, and is approximately sixty percent more common in men than in women. In Australia approximately 1800 people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer each year and there are a similar number of deaths. The five-year survival is less than five percent, and the majority of patients die within the first year. Surgery is frequently not possible due to the advanced stage of disease at diagnosis, and chemotherapy is largely ineffective. A better understanding of the causes of pancreatic cancer is essential in order to develop strategies to prevent this lethal cancer. Currently the causes of pancreatic cancer are poorly understood. Family history and smoking probably account for approximately 30% of cases, but for the remainder the cause is unknown. This study will assess a new hypothesis, namely that too much acid in the stomach possibly caused by infection with a bacterial organism, could increase the risk of pancreatic cancer. We will include people who are diagnosed with cancer of the pancreas (cases), and match these to people selected from the electoral roll who have not ever been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer (controls). Participants will be asked a series of detailed questions about their diet, smoking, occupation and medical history. We will collect blood to look for antibodies to the bacteria and to examine specific genes, and we will compare all these factors in cases and controls. This is one of the first large studies of pancreatic cancer in Australia and we will take an integrated approach to examining interactions between genetics and exposure to environmental factors.