Family and Personal History of Malignancy in Intraductal Papillary Mucinous Neoplasm (IPMN)

Intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN) is a cyst-like cancer of the pancreas that is increasingly being identified in medical practice, including during the screening of individuals at high risk of pancreatic cancer. It has been established that 10 to 20% of pancreatic cancers are familial. In comparison, there has been little research into the importance of genetic risk in IPMN incidence. The investigators will perform a retrospective chart review of patients with IPMN who were evaluated for surgical intervention at our tertiary referral center. The investigators are interested in determining the proportion of IPMN patients with a family history of pancreatic and other cancers. In addition, we will assess if familial cancer risk is associated with increased risk for malignant IPMN and recurrence, relative to those patients without an inherited predisposition.

The investigators hypothesize that 10 to 20% of patients with intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN) will have an underlying genetic predisposition, as evidenced by a family history of pancreatic cancer or other malignancies.

the investigators further hypothesize that, compared to IPMN patients without a family history of pancreatic cancer and/or other malignancies, patients with a family history will be more likely to have IPMN subtypes of higher malignant potential (main duct or mixed type location) and more advanced histology (carcinoma in situ or invasive carcinoma), and will have a higher recurrence rate following surgical resection.