Copyright: ©Author(s) 2026. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. No commercial re-use. See permissions. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc.
World J Gastrointest Oncol. Jul 15, 2026; 18(7): 121817
Published online Jul 15, 2026. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v18.i7.121817
Published online Jul 15, 2026. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v18.i7.121817
New-onset diabetes and pancreatic cancer: Current evidence on absolute risk and screening feasibility
Seoung Hoon Kim, Organ Transplantation Center, National Cancer Center, Goyang 10408, South Korea
Author contributions: Kim SH conceived the study, performed the literature review, wrote the manuscript, and approved the final version.
AI contribution statement: No generative AI tool was used to generate the manuscript content, scientific interpretation, conclusions, references, tables, or figures. The author prepared the manuscript, selected and interpreted the literature, independently verified all references, and formatted references using EndNote. Google Translate was used only as an auxiliary tool for language editing and proofreading of selected English expressions. The manuscript was not entirely generated using translation software.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The author declares no conflict of interest.
Corresponding author: Seoung Hoon Kim, MD, PhD, Senior Scientist, Organ Transplantation Center, National Cancer Center, 323 Ilsan-ro, Ilsandong-gu, Goyang 10408, South Korea.
Received: April 2, 2026
Revised: May 13, 2026
Accepted: May 25, 2026
Published online: July 15, 2026
Processing time: 96 Days and 3.9 Hours
Revised: May 13, 2026
Accepted: May 25, 2026
Published online: July 15, 2026
Processing time: 96 Days and 3.9 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: New-onset diabetes (NOD) is a reproducible clinical signal associated with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, but its absolute cancer risk remains low. This minireview summarizes recent prospective cohort data, risk stratification models, and screening-related evidence showing why NOD should not be used as a screening indication. Instead, it should be considered a gatekeeper for stepwise risk enrichment, with future efforts focused on clinically actionable absolute-risk thresholds, biomarkers, and prospective validation.