Chemoprevention of pancreatic cancer-one step closer.

BACKGROUND

Since for pancreatic cancer the mortality rate approaches the incidence rate with only 1-4% of all patients surviving 5 years, it would be would be of great value to provide chemopreventive treatment for high-risk individuals.

DISCUSSION

The preclinical study of pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PanINs) has recently been made possible by the generation of genetically modified animal models, which recapitulate human PanINs and invasive pancreatic cancer on a genetic and histomorphologic level. Very recently, several groups have reported first evidence of chemoprevention of pancreatic cancer.