Chronic inhaled cocaine abuse may predispose to the development of pancreatic adenocarcinoma

Background: The acute and chronic effects of cocaine over various organ systems have been well documented. A more recent approach to the effects of this drug has focused on the immunological consequences of its exposure, with results that indicate a possible carcinogenic effect. Methods: A chart review was made in order to search for young pancreatic adenocarcinoma patients (arbitrarily defined as younger than 40) who made use of inhaled cocaine. This age was chosen because of a higher probability of cocaine addiction than at older ages. Results: Of the 198 patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma, 13 were younger than 40 years (range 19 to 37) and 5 of these had abused inhaled cocaine for about a decade. One patient had abused marijuana, and there was no information on drug usage in the other 7 patient charts.