Genetics of pancreatic cancers

The pancreas is an organ. It is behind your stomach. It makes proteins that help control your blood sugar. And help you digest your food. Pancreatic cancer is cancer that starts in the pancreas. It is hard to detect early. And it can spread fast. You often do not have symptoms until you have had it for a while. Signs include pain in your stomach area or back. Not feel like eating. Or losing weight. Blood clots. Tiredness. Feeling depressed. It can cause diabetes.Smoking can put you at risk for pancreatic cancer. So can being overweight. Diabetes. And long term, or chronic, inflammation of the pancreas. A family history of pancreatic cancer can also put you at risk.Some people have cysts in their pancreas. These are small sacs of fluid. They can be big or small. Most do not cause problems. You may not even know they are there. They are not cancer. But some pancreatic cysts can turn cancerous. Your doctor can test the cysts to find out. About 1 in 4 pancreatic cancers start with cysts. You can see cysts with ultrasound, a type of medical image. This is good news. Your doctor can test the cysts to find out. And keep checking them over time. This helps us catch the cancer early if the cysts turn cancerous.Scientists at Vanderbilt University Medical Center will use BioVU to study pancreatic cysts. They want to know more about them. And what makes some turn into cancer. They will look for people do and do not have pancreatic cysts. They will also look for people with pancreatic cancer that do not have cysts. Then they will look for gene changes in each group. The goal is to find gene changes that may cause the cysts to turn into cancer. Their results may help us learn more about what causes other pancreatic cancers too. And who may be at risk for getting pancreatic cancer. The sooner we find cancer, the better chance you have to beat it. We may find new ways to treat these cancers too.