The Role of Hormonal and Dietary Factors in Pancreatic Carcinogenesis

The pancreatic cancer continues to represent an important problem, as a cancer with extremely poor prognosis. To date more than 16 chemicals have been shown to induce pancreatic tumors, in animal models. The tumors developed in rats are essentially of acinar type and those in hamsters mostly of ductal type. Many studies proved the direct or indirect role of hormonal and dietary factors in pancreatic cancer. The development of alternative treatments according to biological and biochemical steps of carcinogenesis is available as adjuvant treatment. We present herein an overview of current experimental and clinical results in order to understand the evolution, histogenesis and biological behaviour of pancreatic cancer.