Relationship among CT-based abdominal adipose tissue areas and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma in male.

Purpose: It is known that obesity can be a risk factor for many types of cancer, including the pancreas. Visceral obesity rather than overall obesity is held more responsible for this relationship. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship of adipose tissue areas and their distribution (subcutaneous and visceral) with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) in male patients.

Materials And-method: The medical data and abdominopelvic computed tomography (CT) examinations of male patients diagnosed with PDAC who underwent surgery or a biopsy in our hospital between January 2015 and January 2020 were retrospectively evaluated. An age-matched control group was formed from 49 male patients who underwent CT with a preliminary diagnosis of urinary stone without a history of malignancy and weight loss and no malignancy on CT at the time of presentation. Adipose tissue areas (total [TAT], visceral [VAT] and subcutaneous [SAT]) were measured in both groups, their VAT/TAT, VAT/SAT and SAT/TAT ratios were calculated, and the data were compared between the two groups.

Results: Patients with PDAC had significantly greater TAT, VAT and SAT areas than the control group ( = 0.002,  = 0.01, and  = 0.003, respectively). However, there was no significant differences in the VAT/TAT, VAT/SAT and SAT/TAT ratios between the two groups ( = 0.60,  = 0.60, and  = 0.73, respectively).

Conclusion: In this study, all adipose tissue areas (VAT, SAT, and TAT) were shown to be increased in male patients with PDAC. Both visceral obesity and overall obesity present as risk factors for PDAC in male patients.