An infiltrating ductal adenocarcinoma of the pancreas is a malignant epithelial neoplasm with glandular differentiation that is one of the most lethal of all solid malignancies in human pathology. Estimation is that about 213,000 patients die each year from pancreatic cancer worldwide, and this number will only be higher as the population ages. The majority of these tumors are diagnosed between ages of 60 and 80 years. Pancreatic cancer rarely occurs in patients younger than 40 years of age. Well- established risk factors are cigarette smoking, a family history of pancreatic carcinoma, diabetes mellitus and obesity. Only 20% of patients are surgical candidates at the time of diagnosis, due to the fact that most patients do not develop symptoms until the cancer has metastasized
Last date updated on September, 2024