HHS HealthBeat (September 18, 2009)

Smoking and pancreatic cancer

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Smoking increases the risk of pancreatic cancer, which is one of the most deadly types of cancer. And a study indicates a way in which that happens.

At Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, Hwyda Arafat looked at tissue samples from pancreatic cancer patients. She was looking for a protein called osteopontin, which is a sign of pancreatic cancer. And in almost three quarters of smokers’ samples, she found a form of that protein that supports the ability of cancer to spread.

Arafat says it’s another reason not to smoke:

[Hwyda Arafat speaks] "Smoking is not just involved in pancreatic cancer. Smoking is a risk factor in so many other cancers, like lung cancer, prostate cancer and breast cancer."

The study in the journal Surgery was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: May 7, 2011