Temporal trends of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma in young adults in the United States: A Population-Based Study

Introduction: Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is an uncommon yet fatal malignancy with numerous recent reports detailing a significant increase in the overall incidence lately. However, there is limited literature on recent incidence rates of the disease in young individuals. In this study we evaluate PDAC incidence in the US among young patients. Methods: Data from 2000 to 2017 was obtained from the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results ‘SEER’ database and analyzed using the SEER*stat software. The overall incidence, incidence trends, and survival were calculated. Results: We selected 667 PDAC patients who met our inclusion criteria. We found the incidence of PDAC among young individuals to be 1.016 (95% CI, 0.940–1.096) per 1,000,000 person-years. Incidence rates were stable over the study period. Higher incidence was found among males [1.240 (95% CI, 1.122-1.366)] and blacks [1.226 (95% CI, 0.999–1.490)]. The 5-year relative survival of young patients with PDAC was 6.8%. Conclusions: Among young adults, pancreatic cancer incidence has been stable over the study duration. However, disparities between subpopulations exist and further studies are warranted to better understand those observed differences.