Doctors at Boston Medical Center have found a surprising link between gallstones and a deadly type of pancreatic cancer called pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).
This form of cancer is very hard to detect early and is often found only when it’s too late for effective treatment.
In a large study, the researchers discovered that people who were later diagnosed with PDAC were six times more likely to have had gallstones in the year before their cancer was found. This could help doctors spot pancreatic cancer earlier, which might lead to better treatment and more lives saved.
Pancreatic cancer, especially PDAC, is the most common and dangerous kind of cancer in the pancreas. It makes up over 90% of cases. It is one of the deadliest cancers because it usually doesn’t show clear signs until it has spread, making treatment very hard. The survival rate is very low.
Gallstones are small, hard pieces that form in the gallbladder, a small organ below the liver. The gallbladder stores bile, a fluid that helps break down fat. When the balance of chemicals in bile changes, stones can form.
They can be as small as grains of sand or as big as a golf ball. Most people with gallstones have no symptoms, but others may feel pain in the upper belly, feel sick, or have trouble digesting food.
This new study was shared at the 2022 Digestive Disease Week conference. It looked at the health records of 18,700 people with pancreatic cancer and compared them to about 100,000 people who did not have cancer.
In the year before being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, 4.7% of the cancer patients had gallstones, and 1.6% had surgery to remove their gallbladder. In comparison, only 0.8% of people without cancer had gallstones, and just 0.3% had their gallbladders removed. This big difference suggests that gallstones may be an early sign of pancreatic cancer.
It’s important to note that gallstones do not cause pancreatic cancer. But the strong link between them could help doctors find cancer earlier. If a patient has recently had gallstones, doctors might decide to keep a closer eye on them for signs of pancreatic cancer.
Gallstones are very common, especially in adults over 40, women, and people who are overweight. Most people with gallstones will not get pancreatic cancer. But this study shows that if gallstones appear shortly before other symptoms, they might be a sign that something more serious is going on.
The researchers want to keep studying this link to understand it better. They hope to find patterns in medical scans or blood tests that can help identify people at higher risk of pancreatic cancer.
This study gives hope that we might one day catch pancreatic cancer earlier by watching for gallstones. It also reminds us that even common health issues can be clues to something more serious. Paying attention to small changes in our health could lead to earlier diagnoses and better outcomes.
If you care about cancer, please read studies that artificial sweeteners are linked to higher cancer risk, and how drinking milk affects risks of heart disease and cancer.
For more health information, please see recent studies about the best time to take vitamins to prevent heart disease, and results showing vitamin D supplements strongly reduces cancer death.
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