Background

Obesity is a modifiable risk factor for pancreatic cancer. This study aims to demonstrate if weight loss via bariatric surgery (BaS) can decrease the risk of pancreatic cancer in patients with obesity.

Methods

We examined the NIS database from 2010-2015 to assess differences in the number of first-time cancer-related hospitalization as a proxy for cancer incidence between patients with a history of BaS (cases) and those without (controls). Patients with previous diagnosis of cancer were excluded from the analysis. Matching controls had a BMI >35 kg/m2. ICD-9 codes were used to identify admissions. Univariate analysis and a multivariate logistic regression were performed. All percentages and means (with confidence intervals) were weighted.

Results

A total of 2,300,845 (2,004,804 Controls, and 296,041 Cases) were included. On the univariate analysis, the pancreatic cancer rate was significantly higher in the cases (0.23% vs. 0.11% p<0.001). We controlled for unbalanced factors and divided the subjects into two groups; Group A: subjects without or unknown history of chronic pancreatitis where BaS caused protection for pancreatic cancer (OR= 0.37 95% IC: 0.34-0.41 p<0.0001) and Group B: subjects with a known history of chronic pancreatitis where cases had more likelihood of developing pancreatic cancer (OR= 2.26 95% IC 1.03-4.97 p< 0.0001)

Conclusions

CONCLUSIONSOur findings raise the question of whether BaS might be a protective factor influencing the development of cancer, specifically in patients with history of chronic pancreatitis, as our results showed a 227% risk in this population. Further studies are needed to confirm these findings