Pancreatic cancer (carcinoma of the pancreas) occurs more frequently at an advanced age, most frequently between the ages of 55 and 70 (80% of pancreatic carcinomas). Overall, women and men are affected equally frequently, but the mean age of onset of the disease is 69 years for men and 76 years for women. Therefore, men under 70 are more frequently affected by pancreatic cancer than women. Children are much less likely to develop pancreatic cancer than adults, but the disease can occur at any age. The risk of developing pancreatic cancer increases significantly with age.
Frequencies
Pancreatic cancer accounts for approximately 2-3% of all malignant cancers in adults. In Germany and Europe, 9-12 people per 100,000 inhabitants are diagnosed with this tumour every year. In recent years, the number of cases of pancreatic cancer has increased steadily. Since diganose usually reaches the final stage of pancreatic cancer and the tumor is very aggressive, this cancer is the fifth most common tumor-related cause of death worldwide. Experts attribute this increase in the number of cases to the fact that overall life expectancy is rising, which means that more and more people are reaching the age at which the probability of developing pancreatic cancer increases significantly.
Age as a risk factor
The causes of the development of pancreatic cancer are still largely unknown. Old age is the most reliable and important risk factor for pancreatic cancer. In addition, ethnic origin (highest mortality rate from pancreatic cancer in the black population), cigarette smoking, heavy alcohol consumption and obesity have already been identified as risk factors.
In addition, there also appears to be a family predisposition to pancreatic cancer that is inherited via particularities in the genetic information (gene mutations). People in whose families a first-degree relative (father, mother, siblings) has already contracted pancreatic cancer have a two to three times higher risk of developing the disease. However, only about 5% of pancreatic cancers are genetic. Long-term chronic inflammation of the pancreas and diabetes mellitus type 2 can also increase the risk of pancreatic cancer.
Why does pancreatic cancer develop in old age?
Cancer can develop anywhere in the body and at any age. Human body cells are constantly renewing themselves through cell division and old or broken cells die. So there is normally a balance between cell growth and cell death (apoptosis).
Now it can happen that due to a defect in the genetic information a damaged cell does not die, but instead divides and multiplies uncontrolled despite increasing defects. The daughter cells of this defective cell also contain the altered genetic information, and even further abnormalities and damage can result from further cell division. This results in a tumour that can grow uncontrollably.
Pancreatic cancer is a malignant tumour that grows into healthy tissue and destroys it. It usually originates from the so-called epithelial cells of the pancreatic ducts and often it even forms settlements (metastases) in other organs. Why does pancreatic cancer develop particularly frequently in older people?
Human body cells have certain control mechanisms that ensure that cell division is controlled and defective cells die. Certain guardian genes (so-called tumour suppressor genes) monitor correct cell division and initiate repair mechanisms if necessary. The older a person gets, the weaker these control mechanisms become and the probability of defects in the guardian genes increases. However, if these guardian genes are switched off and can no longer cause a cell to die, the cell becomes immortal and can continue to reproduce uncontrolled. Thus, the probability of developing a tumour (including pancreatic cancer) increases with age.
