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Cancer, Stress, Anesthesia, and Immune Response · Journal article
BMC Cancer · September 8, 2026
A consensus or society position rather than new primary data.
This scoping review synthesizes 130 observational studies to map pancreatic cancer risk factors across six domains. Evidence is robust for smoking, diabetes mellitus, chronic pancreatitis, obesity, age, and family history, but remains heterogeneous and incomplete for hepatobiliary, renal, infectious, environmental, genetic, socioeconomic, and psychosocial exposures.
Scoping review. Observational studies (case–control, cohort, cross-sectional) investigating any factor associated with pancreatic cancer risk; no restriction on population characteristics reported. Not specified in source text.
130 studies published between 2001 and 2026 were included in the review Sixteen major themes of factors associated with pancreatic cancer risk were identified Substance use was the most frequently investigated theme, followed by metabolic disorders, body weight and composition, dietary habits, and pancreatic conditions
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Clinicians and researchers should recognize that smoking, diabetes, chronic pancreatitis, obesity, age, and family history have the most robust evidence as pancreatic cancer risk factors, while many other exposures (environmental, genetic, socioeconomic, psychosocial) require further prospective investigation with standardized exposure assessment to support reliable risk stratification and prevention strategies.
A comprehensive scoping review mapping the landscape of pancreatic cancer risk factors across multiple domains, identifying evidence concentration and gaps to inform future research priorities and prevention strategies.
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Quoted from the source exactly as published.
Clinicians and researchers should recognize that smoking, diabetes, chronic pancreatitis, obesity, age, and family history have the most robust evidence as pancreatic cancer risk factors, while many other exposures (environmental, genetic, socioeconomic, psychosocial) require further prospective investigation with standardized exposure assessment to support reliable risk stratification and prevention strategies.
Graded across the dimensions that decide whether you should act, each from what the source actually supports. There is no single score, and where a dimension was not assessed it says so.
Background Pancreatic cancer (PC) is a highly lethal malignancy, and its growing global burden remains closely linked to diagnosis at advanced stages. Understanding the range of factors that have been investigated in relation to pancreatic cancer risk can help clarify where evidence is most consistent and where important gaps remain for prevention and future research. Methods This scoping review was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines and the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology. PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, ProQuest, and ScienceDirect were searched from database inception to 13 July 2026. Observational studies investigating factors associated with pancreatic cancer risk were included. Two reviewers independently screened studies, extracted data, appraised methodological quality using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) checklists, and synthesized the evidence using thematic analysis. Results A total of 130 studies published between 2001 and 2026 were included. Sixteen major themes of factors associated with pancreatic cancer risk were identified. Substance use was the most frequently investigated theme, followed by metabolic disorders, body weight and composition, dietary habits, and pancreatic conditions. Smoking, diabetes mellitus, chronic pancreatitis, obesity-related measures, increasing age, and family history of pancreatic cancer were the factors most frequently reported across the included studies. The evidence also covered hepatobiliary and kidney disorders, systemic and oral health conditions, chronic inflammation, infectious agents, environmental exposures, demographic characteristics, genetic factors, socioeconomic and psychosocial factors, and medication-related exposures, although these areas were investigated less often. Conclusion The evidence identified in this review was concentrated around several established risk factors, particularly smoking, diabetes mellitus, chronic pancreatitis, obesity-related measures, increasing age, and family history of pancreatic cancer. At the same time, the literature extends beyond these commonly studied factors to a broader set of clinical, behavioral, environmental, genetic, and social exposures, for which the available evidence is less extensive and often heterogeneous. These findings indicate that important areas of pancreatic cancer risk remain insufficiently characterized. Future prospective studies with standardized and clearly defined exposure assessment are needed to address these gaps and support more reliable pancreatic cancer risk stratification.
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