There are two forms of pancreatic cancer: exocrine pancreatic cancer, which accounts for approxim…

There are two forms of pancreatic cancer: exocrine pancreatic cancer, which accounts for approximately 95 percent of all cases, and endocrine or pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, also called islet cell tumors.

Smoking, being overweight, having diabetes, chronic pancreatitis, and certain hereditary conditions are risk factors for pancreatic cancer.

The National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program estimates that there will be an estimated 60,430 people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the U.S. and some 48,220 deaths from these cancers in 2021. It is the third leading cause of cancer death in this country.

Moreover, pancreatic cancer is projected to become the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the U.S. by 2030, behind lung cancer, according to data published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).