Chemoprevention of pancreatic cancer-one step closer.

BACKGROUND: Since for pancreatic cancer the mortality rate approaches the incidence rate with only 1-4% of all patients surviving 5 years, it would be would be of great value to provide chemopreventive treatment for high-risk individuals. DISCUSSION: The preclinical study of pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PanINs) has recently been made possible by the generation of genetically modified animal models, which recapitulate human PanINs and invasive pancreatic cancer on a genetic and histomorphologic level. Very recently, several groups have reported first evidence of chemoprevention of pancreatic cancer.