exposure to pesticides involved?

It represents 90% of forms of pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic adenocarcinoma develops from cells that produce pancreatic juice, necessary for digesting food, which have become abnormal. Although this disease, which has a high mortality rate, is still relatively rare, its incidence is increasing, particularly in France, which in 2022 was the fourth most affected country in the world, according to data from the International Center for Disease Control and Prevention. cancer research.

To date, several risk factors for pancreatic adenocarcinoma have been identified. In the list found on the National Cancer Institute website, we find tobacco consumption, obesity, diabetes, family history of pancreatic cancer and a genetic predisposition. What about exposure to pesticides? For now, “the association between pesticides and pancreatic adenocarcinoma remains uncertain”, according to researchers from the universities of Lille, Reims and Imperial College London (United Kingdom).

Pancreatic cancer: 134,102 cases identified in mainland France

Thus, they decided to conduct a study to evaluate the spatio-temporal distribution of the incidence of pancreatic adenocarcinoma in France between 2011 and 2021 and to determine whether exposure to pesticides was linked to a higher risk. of pancreatic cancer. To do this, the team used a disease mapping and ecological regression approach based on medico-administrative data covering 99% of the French population. “A pesticide exposure intensity index was used for the total quantity (total PEXI) and for 9 specific substances,” she indicated. The analyzes were adjusted to take into account tobacco-induced diseases, deprivation, accessibility to community medicine, alcohol-related pathologies and morbid obesity. In total, 134,102 incident cases of pancreatic adenocarcinoma were identified in metropolitan France from 2011 to 2021.

Paris, Burgundy, South-West… More risk of pancreatic adenocarcinoma in certain regions

Asked by The Worldscientists explained that the geographic distribution of risk in the country was uneven. Indeed, the results revealed that the risk of developing pancreatic cancer was higher around Paris, central France, the Mediterranean coast, “in Burgundy (…) with some areas of increased risk in the South-West”. After cross-referencing these data with local uses of pesticides, the authors observed a statistically significant link between the quantity of substances applied per unit area and the risk of contracting pancreatic adenocarcinoma. “The size of the effect demonstrated is small, but statistically robust. Clearly, for an increase of 2.6 kilos of pesticides used per hectare, the relative risk of pancreatic cancer increases on average by 1.3% .”

Pancreatic cancer: what pesticides are being singled out?

“Sulfur spray, mancozeb and glyphosate showed an association of the same magnitude,” can we read in the work published in the journal European Journal of Epidemiology. However, the researchers emphasize that these three substances are not necessarily involved and that their link with pancreatic adenocarcinoma may be the result of concomitant use with other authorized products not examined individually in the research. According to information from Le Monde, the detection of markers of exposure to chlordane is also associated with a fifteen-fold risk of contracting pancreatic cancer. “The link to pesticide exposure should be confirmed and the underlying mechanisms understood using individual-level studies,” concluded the team.