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

在发达国家，胰腺癌是癌症死亡的第四大常见原因，男性的发病率大约比女性高60%。在澳大利亚，每年约有1800人被诊断出患有胰腺癌，死亡人数也差不多。五年存活率不到5%，大多数患者在第一年内死亡。由于确诊时疾病处于晚期，手术通常是不可能的，而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原因是至关重要的。目前，人们对胰腺癌的病因知之甚少。家族史和吸烟可能约占病例的30%，但其余病例的原因尚不清楚。这项研究将评估一种新的假设，即胃中过多的酸可能是由细菌有机体感染引起的，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)，并将这些病例与从选民名单中选择的从未被诊断为胰腺癌的人(对照组)进行匹配。参与者将被问到一系列关于他们的饮食、吸烟、职业和病史的详细问题。我们将采集血液以寻找针对细菌的抗体并检查特定的基因，我们将在病例和对照中比较所有这些因素。这是澳大利亚首批关于胰腺癌的大型研究之一，我们将采取一种综合的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.