Among all pancreatic diseases worldwide, acute pancreatitis is the most common and pancreatic cancer has the highest mortality rate, according to research published in Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology.
Amy Y. Xiao, MBChB, from the Department of Surgery, University of Auckland, New Zealand, and colleagues based their findings on 48 population-based cohort studies—35 on pancreatic cancer, 10 on acute pancreatitis, 3 on chronic pancreatitis, and none on pancreatic cysts—with a total study population of 296 million persons and 119,000 patients with pancreatic diseases.
The researchers found global estimates of incidence and mortality of 8.14 cases per 100,000 person-years and 6.92 deaths per 100,000 person-years, respectively, for pancreatic cancer; 33.74 cases per 100,000 person-years and 1.60 deaths per 100,000 person-years, respectively, for acute pancreatitis; and 9.62 cases per 100,000 person-years and 0.09 deaths per 100,000 person-years, respectively, for chronic pancreatitis.
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After conducting a subgroup analysis based on World Health Organization regions, the investigators found that the incidence of pancreatic cancer and acute pancreatitis, as well as the mortality rate from pancreatic cancer, was significantly higher in the American region than in the European and Western Pacific regions. In addition, the incidence of chronic pancreatitis was significantly higher in the European region than in the American region. The Southeast Asian region had the lowest mortality rate from pancreatic cancer. Furthermore, chronic pancreatitis occurred twice as frequently in men as in women, although no difference was observed between sexes regarding pancreatic cancer or acute pancreatitis.
“Globally, acute pancreatitis is the most common pancreatic disease whilst pancreatic cancer is the most lethal,” wrote the researchers. “However, their burden is not equal across the globe. The epidemiological estimates reported in this study could inform future high-quality studies.”
Reference
- Xiao AY, Tan M, Wu LM, et al. Global incidence and mortality of pancreatic diseases: a systematic review, meta-analysis, and meta-regression of popuation-based cohort studies. Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2016;1(1):45l-55. doi: 10.1016/S2468-1253(16)30004-8.
