These infections may contribute to the progression of pancreatic cancer by acting jointly with other pancreatic cancer risk factors that impact the inflammation and immune response, such as smoking and obesity, and the ABO genetic variant, recently linked to pancreatic cancer through genome-wide association studies.
We suspect that ABO genotype/phenotype status influences the behavior of H. pylori which in turn affects gastric and pancreatic secretory function, and these ultimately influence the pancreatic carcinogenicity of dietary- and smoking-related N-nitrosamine exposures, and thus risk of pancreatic cancer.