Background/aims: Pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasms (PanINs) have been considered as age-related lesions as well as precancerous lesions. However, we do not know their true relationship with age because the former studies did not deal with all age groups. Moreover, the numbers of the patients in each age group were not the same. This study was done to examine the "true relationship" between PanINs and age.
Methodology: Ninety autopsied normal appearing pancreases from all age groups (from under 10s to 80s) were examined. Each group had 10 patients. The relationship between PanINs and age was studied. The sexual difference was also studied.
Results: Both the incidence of PanIN positive patients and the number of PanINs increased with age from under 10s to 40s, but they did not correlate with patient age after 40s. The number of PanIN positive patients in the under 10s, 40s and 80s were 2, 10 and 9, respectively. The number of PanINs in the under 10s, 40s and 80s were 11, 127 and 130, respectively. A sexual difference was not seen.
Conclusions: The relationship between PanINs and age showed a biphasic correlation pattern before and after 40s. The presence of PanIN positive patients in their first year of age was also a new finding.