Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD is associated with higher rates of many cancers, including lung, oesophagus, colon, bladder and breast cancer. Often a result of many years of smoking, the disease makes it hard to breathe, leaving patients with lower levels of oxygen and higher levels of carbon dioxide in their blood.
Low oxygen, called hypoxia, is a known feature of the pancreatic cancer microenvironment and a contributor to tumour aggressiveness and resistance to therapy. However, the impact of high CO2 levels on pancreatic cancer has been considerably less studied.