Main pancreatic duct dilatation and pancreatic cysts in relatives and spouses of patients with pancreatic cancer.

Although main pancreatic duct dilatation and pancreatic cysts are risk factors for developing pancreatic cancer, limited data exist regarding these findings in relatives and spouses of pancreatic cancer patients. The frequency of these findings was examined using long-term follow-up data and transabdominal ultrasonography focusing on the pancreas. We prospectively enrolled 184 relatives and spouses of pancreatic cancer patients and performed special pancreatic ultrasonography to detect main pancreatic duct dilatation and pancreatic cysts. First-degree relatives (148 participants) of patients with pancreatic cancer were significantly younger than the spouses (36 participants; 41 vs. 65 years old). The frequency of ultrasonographic findings was significantly different between the relative (8.8%) and spouse (33.3%) groups. Main pancreatic duct dilatation and pancreatic cysts were observed in seven (4.7%) and seven (4.7%) participants in the relative group, and in nine (25.0%) and five (13.9%) participants in the spouse group, respectively. On multivariate analysis, age was an independent risk factor for the ultrasonographic findings. The frequency of ultrasonographic findings was significantly higher in spouses than in first-degree relatives of patients with pancreatic cancer and was strongly influenced by the age gap between the groups. Main pancreatic duct dilatation was frequently observed, especially in the spouse group.