Acta Univ Latv (2006) 710: 41–51

Assessment of risk factors in the development of pancreatic cancer in Latvia

Abstract

The aim of the study was to assess the possibility of identifying individuals at risk of pancreatic cancer (PC) on the basis of information from questionnaires filled in by patients and analyses of the DNA from peripheral blood of PC patients for mutations in BRCA1, CDKN2A, INK4/ARF and STK11 genes. Questionnaires showed unknown risk factors in ethiology and pathogenesis of PC besides smoking and other known risk factors. Two carriers of frameshift mutations in the BRCA1 gene of 68 PC patients tested were detected. Screening for two founder mutations in the BRCA1 gene should be carried out in PC patients to identify at least a part of cancer-prone families in order to offer to mutation carriers comprehensive care, surveillance and preventive procedures. No deleterious mutations were detected in CDKN2A, INK4/ARF and STK11 genes. We conclude that mutations in these genes do not contribute significantly to PC incidence in the population of Latvia. The role of missense mutations detected can not be estimated unambigously on the basis of our data.