BACKGROUND

ABO blood group has been associated with risks of various malignancies, including pancreatic cancer. No study has evaluated the association of ABO blood group with incidence of pancreatic carcinogenesis during follow-up of patients with intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (IPMN).

METHODS

Among 3,164 patients diagnosed with pancreatic cysts at the University of Tokyo (Tokyo, Japan) from 1994 through 2019, we identified 1,815 patients with IPMN with available data on ABO blood group. We studied the association of ABO blood group with incidence of pancreatic carcinoma, overall and by carcinoma types [IPMN-derived carcinoma or concomitant pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC)]. Utilizing competing-risks proportional hazards models, we estimated subdistribution hazard ratios (SHR) for incidence of pancreatic carcinoma with adjustment for potential confounders, including cyst characteristics.

RESULTS

During 11,518 person-years of follow-up, we identified 97 patients diagnosed with pancreatic carcinoma (53 with IPMN-derived carcinoma and 44 with concomitant PDAC). Compared with patients with blood group O, patients with blood groups A, B, and AB had multivariable SHRs (95% confidence intervals) for pancreatic carcinoma of 2.25 (1.25-4.07; = 0.007), 2.09 (1.08-4.05; = 0.028), and 1.17 (0.43-3.19; = 0.76), respectively. We observed no differential association of ABO blood group with pancreatic carcinoma incidence by carcinoma types.

CONCLUSIONS

In this large long-term study, patients with IPMN with blood group A or B appeared to be at higher risk of pancreatic carcinoma compared with those with blood group O.

IMPACT

ABO blood group can be a biomarker for pancreatic cancer risk among patients with IPMNs.