Background: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between various respiratory conditions, including hypercapnic respiratory disease, and a multitude of resected pancreatic lesions.
Methods: This retrospective case-control study queried a prospectively maintained database of patients who underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy between January 2015 and October 2021. Patient data, including smoking history, medical history, and pathology reports, were recorded. Patients with no smoking history and no concomitant respiratory conditions were designated as the control group.
Results: A total of 723 patients with complete clinical and pathological data were identified. Male current smokers showed increased rates of PDAC (OR 2.33, 95% CI 1.07-5.08, p = 0.039). Male patients with COPD had a markedly increased association with IPMN (OR 3.02, CI 1.08-8.41, p = 0.039), while females with obstructive sleep apnea had a four-fold increase in risk of IPMN compared to women in the control group (OR 3.89, CI 1.46-10.37, p = 0.009). Surprisingly, female patients with asthma had a decreased incidence of pancreatic and periampullary adenocarcinoma (OR 0.36, 95% CI 0.18-0.71. p < 0.01).
Conclusion: This large cohort study reveals possible links between respiratory pathologies and various pancreatic mass-forming lesions.
Keywords: asthma; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD); hypercapnia; hypoxia; intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN); obstructive sleep apnea (OSA); pancreatic cancer; pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC); pancreatic tumor; respiratory diseases; smoking.