Chronic pancreatitis is considered a risk factor for pancreatic cancer. An exact mechanism how chronic inflammation of the pancreas leads to pancreatic cancer is not yet understood; the possibility of a shared genetic predisposition for both diseases is also assumed. A similar association in patients with AIP has not yet been demonstrated. The aim of our work was to expand the knowledge about relationship between chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer. We studied the association of the diseases in two synchronous projects. In the first one, we examined the occurrence of pancreatic cancer in patients with autoimmune pancreatitis. In the second project, we investigated the presence of genetics variants associated with chronic pancreatitis in patients with pancreatic cancer. In the retrospective study of our cohort of patients, we were one of the very first in the world to show occurrence of pancreatic cancer in patients with autoimmune pancreatitis, and as the only one, we have defined the characteristics of such patients. To assess the association of the diseases, we performed a systematic review where we identified all reported cases of coincidence of pancreatic cancer and autoimmune pancreatitis; the incidence of cancer in patients with autoimmune pancreatitis was similar to that of patients...

© 2017, © 2017 American Federation for Medical Research. A middle-aged man presents with acute pancreatitis of unknown etiology and is found to have a presentation consistent with the diagnosis of type 2 autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP). AIP is a group of rare heterogeneous diseases that are challenging to diagnose. There are 2 types of AIP. Type 1 disease is the more common worldwide than type 2 AIP. While type 1 AIP is associated with IgG4-positive antibodies, type 2 AIP is IgG4 antibody negative. Both types of AIP are responsive to corticosteroid treatment. Although type 1 AIP has more extrapancreatic manifestations and more commonly relapses, this is a case of a patient with type 2 AIP with inflammatory bowel disease and relapsing course.