Etiologic links between chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer.

In all forms of pancreatitis there appears to be a cellular dysfunction, glandular destruction, and, presumably, increased cell turnover. Increased cell division has been suggested as a potential precursor of cancer in many organs. The excess risk of pancreatic cancer that has been documented in epidemiologic studies in patients with various types of pancreatitis is consistent with this hypothesis. The uncertainties in epidemiologic studies notwithstanding, the existence of a clear association between pancreatitis and the subsequent risk of pancreatic cancer is found too often to be only randomized. The clinical relevance of a causal relationship between chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer is, however, limited, since the prognosis of chronic pancreatitis cannot be separated from that of chronic alcoholism.