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Blood type link to pancreatic cancer risk

People with type O blood have a lower risk of developing pancreatic cancer, say US researchers.

The researchers believe the study may also help explain what causes one of the deadliest kinds of cancer.

The study found that compared to people with type O blood, those with type A have a 32% higher risk of pancreatic cancer, those with type AB have a 51% higher risk and those with type B have a 72% higher risk.

The findings, appearing in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, were based on 107,503 men and women whose health has been tracked since the 1970s and 1980s.

The findings are not likely to have immediate value for doctors and patients dealing with the disease, but could play a role in the future in developing useful screening methods, says Dr Brian Wolpin of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and Harvard Medical School, who led the study.

New insights

Finding this association between blood type and pancreatic cancer risk gives scientists new insight into the biological mechanisms involved in the disease, says Wolpin.

"There are very few known genetic risk factors for pancreatic cancer," he says. "What this study shows is that blood type, which is defined by a gene on your ninth chromosome, appears to be associated with risk of developing this disease."

"It may indicate that either this gene that defines your blood type, or a nearby gene on chromosome nine, is important and may actually be an inherited risk factor for pancreatic cancer.".

According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, approximately 2000 Australians die of pancreatic cancer every year, making it the sixth leading cause of cancer death in Australia.

Pancreatic cancer often spreads quickly and in many people is not detected until it is in an advanced stage when surgical removal is not possible.