Abstract B24: Attitudes of pancreatic cancer family members toward cancer risk and screening

Abstract

Abstract B24 Purpose Pancreatic cancer (PC) is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the United States for which no recommended screening guidelines are available. An estimated 34,290 deaths related to PC is expected to occur in 2008 and the 5-year relative survival rate for this cancer is 5% for all stages combined. A person's chance of developing this cancer increases three-fold if a first-degree relative has pancreatic cancer. The purpose of this study was to assess attitudes of unaffected family members in the Mayo Clinic Pancreas Cancer Family study toward PC cancer risk and future screening options. This is the first study to report such attitudes of PC family members. Subjects and Methods At-risk family members with two or more relatives affected with pancreas cancer in the kindred and primary care controls completed a survey asking about: perceived PC risk, degree of PC worry/concern, attitude toward cancer screening in general, and intentions regarding PC screening if it were a blood test or endoscopic ultrasound. Results 386 family members in 109 PC kindreds and 1058 controls completed surveys. Forty-six percent of PC family members reported that it was likely they would develop PC during their lifetime compared to 6% of controls. Forty-one percent of family members reported having thoughts regarding the possibility of getting pancreatic cancer during the past month versus 4.6% of controls. Similarly, 74% of family members reported concern about getting PC as compared to 40.6% of controls. 94% of family members reported they would be likely to undergo a blood-based PC screening test compared to 89.7% of controls. For endoscopic ultrasound, 71% of family members would be likely to undergo screening as compared to 55% of controls. All comparisons were statistically significant. Conclusion Compared to controls, PC family members perceive their personal PC risk to be high and report a higher rate of PC-related cancer worry/concern. A high percentage of family members and controls indicate receptivity to PC screening, especially if it were a blood test. If the screening is more invasive (i.e. EUS), interest declines, particularly among controls. This information can help investigators to understand and address potential motivators and barriers to recruitment for future PC studies and indicates that there is a need to develop educational interventions among these families to reduce their actual and perceived pancreatic cancer risk. Citation Information: Cancer Prev Res 2008;1(7 Suppl):B24.