can pancreatic cancer be hereditry

[bevjason]

[cathdw1]

Hi , this is the question we all need answering , i am living with this dreadful cancer, my brother also passed almost 3 years ago with it , this worries me for my kids and grandkids , research , research and more of it is needed , but there is most certainly some genes involved ,

[Maggie25]

Hi BevJason

I am not an expert in Famial Pancreatic Cancer (FPC) but I am aware of the research/study which Europac are carrying out into FPC as, unfortunately, my family has personal experience of it. Here is an extract from the Europac website:

Most cases of pancreatic cancer appear out of the blue, with no previous family history of the condition. However, in a few families, the tendancy for pancreatic cancer appears to be genetically determined. It is estimated that 5-10% of pancreatic cancer cases may have a hereditary element and in these families we often see multiple cases of this cancer, usually in multiple generations. We term this Familial Pancreatic Cancer (FPC).

Hereditary conditions are caused by changes in genes, the genetic 'blueprints' that make the proteins of our body. We know of several genes which can cause various types of cancer but we only know of one gene that can cause FPC, this is the BRCA2 gene which is usually associated with hereditary breast cancer. In the majority of FPC families the causative gene is unknown and one of the aims of EUROPAC is to identify mutations that cause the predisposition in these families.

A link to the website is as follows:

europac-org.eu/fpc/default....

You may find the answers to some of your questions on the website

Best wishes

Maggie

[CamCam28]

My husband has been determined to have the BRCA2 mutation, which the docs say gives him more hope as this gives them something to target. He is now having chemo - Gemzar, Abraxane, and Cisplatin, - the Cisplatin has been added due to the gene mutation. His maternal grandmother died of this disease at 81 (husband is 53, diagnosed last November at 52). Docs told brother and sister to get tested. They have Ashkenazi Jewish heritage, thogh the grandmother was Saphardic.