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@val64

Genetic counselors are trained to answer these sorts of questions, but here's my answer.

One possibility is that your partner's father and grandfather carry(ed) an inherited mutation that increased their risk of developing pancreatic cancer. There are still mutations like this that have not been characterized by scientists, and so are not reported by the current genetic tests. If this is the case, then there is a 50 percent chance that your partner also carries the mutation. So frequent screening is a good idea. It is also possible that the fact that the father and grandfather both had pancreatic cancer is a coincidence, in which case your partner would not have an increased risk.

My family has a similar problem with a different type of cancer (strong family history, but no known cancer-associated mutation in the one living affected individual-me). I wish I could identify the mutation so that my other relative could gauge their risk. I had my whole genome sequenced, but there's too much information to figure out what to do with it (and I'm a professional molecular biologist.)

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Replies to "Genetic counselors are trained to answer these sorts of questions, but here's my answer. One possibility..."

Thank you so much for your response! I really appreciate it! I agree that there are probably unidentified gene mutations for this cancer. I hope it's a coincidence. Unlike his dad, my partner has never smoked, very light social drinker, vegan, and is not diabetic. So, I hope some of this reduces his risk.

My follow-up is that are these early once in 2 years scans effective in detecting pancreatic cancer? Not that I am skeptical but want to see some data if available. I was trying to find articles on the outcome of those who are at high risk of pancreatic cancer but had started scans early, but couldn't find any.

Thanks again!

Hi val64,
Did you have surgery? If so, did they run the testing on your tumor tissue? This will also show mutations that could have been inherited. That was the case for me.